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Statement on the disobedience of court orders
The Law Society of Zimbabwe
June 11, 2010

The Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) wishes to express its deepest concern at recent media reports that a government Minister has told villagers to defy a Court Order.

Minister of Presidential Affairs and ZANU PF Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa reportedly told villagers in Chipinge that they should not vacate Makandi Tea and Coffee Estates despite a Court ruling ordering them to do so. It is the LSZ's contention that the Minister may have committed an offence of Contempt of Court.

During the inaugural Joint Judiciary and Legal Practitioners Colloquium held in September 2009, stakeholders, among them members of the judiciary, expressed serious concern over the disobedience of court orders especially by state actors.

The LSZ notes that the Minister and others may be aggrieved by the decision of the Chipinge Magistrate in that particular manner. However it is important to remember that any litigant has the right to appeal against any decision of a lower court up to the Supreme Court.

The LSZ calls upon the Minister concerned and any likeminded individuals to desist from inciting members of the public to disobey court orders. Such actions, if they remain unchecked, may result in members of the public losing confidence in the justice delivery system and are likely to result in anarchy and lack of respect for our Constitutional order.

The LSZ further calls upon the Minister to immediately issue a statement in which he reaffirms his respect for the rule of law and the judiciary in Zimbabwe. He is advised to assist the villagers to appeal against the Magistrate's decision instead of taking the law into his own hands and advising them to disobey court orders.

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