via Rights Lawyers body demands resources,protection for lawyers July 24, 2014 by Veneranda Langa
THE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) yesterday told Parliament that the country’s justice delivery system had been compromised by lack of resources and security for members of the legal profession.
ZLHR board member Andrew Makoni and project manager Roselyn Hanzi told members of the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Human Rights that there was also need to align laws impacting on the justice delivery system with the new Constitution.
“Lack of security of members of the legal profession has been a challenge and in some instances, members of the legal profession have not been afforded the protection they deserve when carrying out their work, thus negatively impacting on their independence,” Makoni said.
“Unless members of the legal profession play their respective roles fearlessly and independently there is a serious risk that a culture of impunity will prevail.”
ZLHR representatives said some of the priority laws that needed alignment included those relating to criminal procedure, prisons, as well as the codification of crimes in the Constitution. They called for adequate staffing levels at the courts to help clear backlogs, renovation of court buildings and computerisation of the records offices.
ZLHR blasted the partisan nature in which the former Attorney-General’s office handled cases, especially with regards to the abuse of section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and the continued engagement of police prosecutors in the justice delivery system.
On the judiciary they said procedural barriers to access justice continued, as well as defiance of court orders and delays in justice delivery where some court cases were pending for over six years.
ZLHR also called on government to adequately resource prison services and deal with overcrowding in prisons.
The human rights defenders pleaded for respect of court orders and timely delivery of justice on suspects.
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