News / National
Mugabe to appoint Deputy Chief Justice
18 Sep 2017 at 06:13hrs | Views
President Mugabe is set to appoint a Deputy Chief Justice in terms of the new Constitution following the promulgation of Constitutional Amendment (Number One) early this month, paving way for coming into force of amendments to the supreme law that sailed through Parliament last month.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces assented to Constitutional Amendment (Number One), which confers on him the powers to appoint Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and High Court Judge President after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.
Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda announced last week that the President had assented to the new Constitutional provisions that sailed through Parliament last month.
"The following law, which was assented to by His Excellency the President, is published in terms of Section of 131 (6)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe - Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (Number One)" read the notice published by Dr Sibanda in a Government Gazette.
The promulgation of the new supreme law is expected to signal the appointment of a new Deputy Chief Justice in order to complete the full structure of the Judiciary.
President Mugabe has since appointed Justice Luke Malaba as the Chief Justice in terms of the 2013 Constitution which provided for public interviews to be held by the JSC.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Justice, Justice Malaba was Deputy Chief Justice before he was elevated to replace the then head of the Judiciary, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, who was retiring.
Chief Justice Chidyausiku is now late.
Another amendment the Constitutional Amendment (Number One) sought to achieve was to subordinate judges of the Labour Court and Administrative Court to the High court.
The changes will however, not affect the conditions of service for those who were already serving as judges of the two courts prior to the coming into effect of the amendments.
The Constitutional Amendment (Number One) sailed through Parliament last month after it was deliberated in both the National Assembly and Senate.
It sought to amend some clauses in the Constitution that was passed in 2013 during the inclusive government after it was adopted in a referendum.
Debate in both Houses was characterised by heckling as Members from Zanu-PF supported the amendments while those from the opposition opposed them.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces assented to Constitutional Amendment (Number One), which confers on him the powers to appoint Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and High Court Judge President after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.
Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda announced last week that the President had assented to the new Constitutional provisions that sailed through Parliament last month.
"The following law, which was assented to by His Excellency the President, is published in terms of Section of 131 (6)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe - Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (Number One)" read the notice published by Dr Sibanda in a Government Gazette.
The promulgation of the new supreme law is expected to signal the appointment of a new Deputy Chief Justice in order to complete the full structure of the Judiciary.
President Mugabe has since appointed Justice Luke Malaba as the Chief Justice in terms of the 2013 Constitution which provided for public interviews to be held by the JSC.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Justice, Justice Malaba was Deputy Chief Justice before he was elevated to replace the then head of the Judiciary, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, who was retiring.
Chief Justice Chidyausiku is now late.
Another amendment the Constitutional Amendment (Number One) sought to achieve was to subordinate judges of the Labour Court and Administrative Court to the High court.
The changes will however, not affect the conditions of service for those who were already serving as judges of the two courts prior to the coming into effect of the amendments.
The Constitutional Amendment (Number One) sailed through Parliament last month after it was deliberated in both the National Assembly and Senate.
It sought to amend some clauses in the Constitution that was passed in 2013 during the inclusive government after it was adopted in a referendum.
Debate in both Houses was characterised by heckling as Members from Zanu-PF supported the amendments while those from the opposition opposed them.
Source - chronicle
