Source: Regulations to establish coroner’s office developed – herald
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
THE Government has started crafting regulations to operationalise the Coroner’s Office, with the new legal framework expected to strengthen the investigation of reportable deaths, improve accountability and enhance public confidence in the administration of justice.
The regulations are being developed during a week-long write-shop in Domboshava attended by legal drafters, forensic pathologists, police investigators, prosecutors, medical practitioners, administrators and policy experts.
Opening the write-shop yesterday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mrs Vimbai Nyemba said the regulations were critical to the effective implementation of the Coroner’s Office Act.
She said the regulations should ensure that deaths requiring investigation were handled through a transparent, professional and evidence-based process.
“These Regulations must ensure that, whenever a death occurs in circumstances that call for investigation, the law provides a clear, fair and dignified pathway to the truth,” Mrs Nyemba said.
“They must enable the circumstances surrounding each death to be properly established, protect the rights and legitimate interests of those affected, and uphold the dignity of every person touched by such loss.”
Mrs Nyemba said the enactment of the Coroner’s Office Act marked a major milestone in modernising Zimbabwe’s coronial and forensic justice system, replacing a framework that has for decades relied on the Inquests Act.
She said the regulations should clearly spell out procedures for mandatory notification of deaths within the prescribed 48-hour period, preservation of scenes, handling of forensic evidence and effective coordination among the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), health institutions, forensic pathologists, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Judiciary.
Mrs Nyemba said the regulations should also position the Coroner’s Office as a proactive institution capable of identifying systemic failures and recommending measures to prevent avoidable deaths.
“Your office must not simply record deaths after they occur. It must serve as a proactive early-warning institution, capable of identifying systemic risks and failures in areas such as public health, workplace safety and custodial care,” she said.
Mrs Nyemba said strengthening the coronial system was in line with Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2, particularly efforts to build strong institutions, uphold the rule of law and improve public confidence in the justice delivery system.
Acting Coroner-General Dr Innocent Zimbwa said the regulations will provide the operational framework required for the effective functioning of the newly established office.
“The Coroner’s Office is still a young institution,” Dr Zimbwa said.
“Its establishment marks an important development in Zimbabwe’s death investigation framework, but legislation alone does not create an effective institution. We must now put in place the systems, procedures and standards necessary for the Office to discharge its mandate effectively and consistently.”
Dr Zimbwa said the regulations will cover procedures for reporting deaths, preservation of scenes, handling of bodies, collection and custody of forensic evidence, coronial inquests, record management and institutional coordination.
He said the drafting process has been informed by comparative studies of coronial systems in England and Wales, Canada, Australia, the United States, Kenya and Nigeria.
“Our responsibility is, therefore, not to copy another jurisdiction. It is to identify relevant international standards and good practices and adapt them to Zimbabwe’s constitutional, legal and institutional context,” said Dr Zimbwa.
He urged participants to critically examine the draft regulations to ensure they were practical, coherent and capable of effective implementation across the country.
“The true test of these Regulations will ultimately be their practical application. They must be sufficiently clear to guide practice, sufficiently precise to promote consistency, and sufficiently responsive to legitimate operational realities,” Dr Zimbwa said.
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