The Judge President, Justice Makarau, in her address to the opening of the High Court on the 15th January 2007, has correctly stated that normally Judges should not complain publicly regarding their conditions of service, but that she has to because their conditions, and the conditions of all those involved in the justice system, are now dire. The MDC is in principle sympathetic towards Judges and towards all those affected by the fact that the government has not allocated sufficient resources to the Ministry of Justice.
However the reason why this deleterious situation has been allowed to arise is because the Zanu PF regime does not care about justice and only tolerates the Judiciary in so far as it serves its purposes. Since 2000 law, and the justice system in general, has been used as a weapon against legitimate democratic opposition. Spurious charges have been brought against opposition leaders, activists and supporters; equally spurious trials have been held. Judges have delayed politically sensitive matters such as electoral petitions and applications for the release of activists, including MPs, causing serious miscarriages of justice. Many Judges have seriously compromised their independence by taking and occupying farms often unlawfully seized from commercial farmers. Many Judges since 2000 have severely retarded the positive strides made by the Judiciary since 1980 in expanding the rights of Zimbabweans through positive interpretations of Zimbabwe’s Declaration of Rights, by handing down a string of judgments inimical to universal human rights norms. Other Judges who have chosen to act professionally have been hounded out of office and some have gone into exile.
During the same period the Zanu PF regime have ensured that vast amounts of money are spent on the CIO. That shows exactly where its priorities lie. Accordingly it is clear that Judges have simply been used and exploited by the regime to further their political purposes. The truth is that the Judiciary will always be seen by Zanu PF as some cumbersome appendix which is necessary to maintain the façade of democracy and which on occasions can be useful in furthering a political goal. But the Judiciary will never be an institution which is revered by Zanu PF as an indispensable part of a Zimbabwean democracy. It is in light of this that we fear that the Judge President will not be listened to by this regime and to that extent her statement is futile. It may be that some individual Judges will have their conditions addressed but in the prevailing environment there is not the slightest chance that sufficient resources will be applied to address Judge Makarau’s legitimate concerns.
The MDC, unlike Zanu PF, believes strongly in the need for a strong, independent Judiciary. The MDC believes in the need for our Constitution to be amended to ensure that there is an effective balance of powers amongst the three arms of government, namely the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. The MDC believes that in order for the Judiciary to become strong and independent there needs to more than just changes to the Constitution; in addition sufficient resources must be made available to the Judiciary through the national budget. Accordingly when the MDC comes to power it will not only amend the Constitution (if it hasn’t been amended positively already) but will also make the Judiciary a budgetary priority. Monies presently allocated to institutions designed to prolong Zanu PF’s unhappy rule will be diverted to promote justice and the well being of the Zimbabwean people.
In the interim we urge the Judiciary to change its ways and to turn over a new leaf this year. It has a role to play in fairly applying the law and by doing all it can to strike down laws which clearly violate our Constitution and which offend international laws, norms and morality. South African judges did that with great distinction during apartheid and we look forward to our Judges emulating their fine example. If our Judges act in this manner then they will play their own part in bringing an end to tyranny. That in itself will result in the legitimate concerns raised by Judge Makarau being addressed earlier than will be the case if tyrannical rule is allowed to go on indefinitely.
David Coltart MP
Shadow Justice Minister
Zimbabwe
Bulawayo 16th January 2007