President assents to judicial law

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has signed into law the Judicial Laws Amendment Bill that provides for virtual court sittings for both civil and criminal matters with the consent of parties involved and creates the new post of Deputy Judge president to help ensure leadership at the High Court.

The new law amends the Constitutional Court Act, the Supreme Court Act, the High Court Act, the Administrative Court Act, the Magistrates Court and the Labour Court Act.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, made the announcement in an Extraordinary Government Gazette published this week in General Notice 164 of 2023.

The Act also provides for the establishment of the Office of the Messenger of the Labour Court to enforce judgments.

Introduction of virtual platforms initially came as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which restricted gatherings and the amendments formalise all of this.

Clause Five of the Bill amends Section 13 of the High Court Act to provide that no claim which is ordinarily within the jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court or any other inferior court or tribunal shall be lodged with the High Court in the first instance. This ensures litigators cannot go shopping for courts, and cannot bypass the lower and cheaper civil courts.

Clause Six amends the High Court Act by allowing the notice published by the Chief Justice to specify the area under the jurisdiction of the specific division of a specialist court to curb the misuse of forum shopping.

One example of forum shopping is an instance where a rich plaintiff makes it more difficult for an indigent defendant to defend a case by initiating action in a court far away from where that defendant resides.

Clause 19 gives power to the court to release an accused person with hearing impairment on bail or remove such person from remand where the State has failed to secure the services of a sign language interpreter.