ZIMBABWE

• Constitution of Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe Government

According to Zimbabwe's constitution, the president is head of state and ahead of government elected for a 6-year term by popular majority vote.

Parliament consists of the House of Assembly and has up to a 5-year life span. The House of Assembly has 120 members elected by the common-roll electorate, eight governors, 10 chiefs, 12 presidential appointees, the Speaker and the Attorney General.

The Zimbabwean constitution institutionalizes majority rule and protection of minority rights. The elected government controls senior appointments in the public service, including the military and police, and insures that appointments at lower levels are made on an equitable basis by the independent Public Service Commission.

The constitution has a bill of rights containing extensive protection of human rights. The bill of rights could not be amended for the first ten years of independence except by unanimous vote of the House of Assembly.

Source: U.S. Department of State

The Customary Law and Local Courts Act of 1990 created a unitary court system, consisting of headmen's courts, chiefs' courts, magistrates' courts, the High Court, and the Supreme Court. With this restructuring, civil and customary law cases may be heard at all levels of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court.

Judges are appointed for life, and the Constitution provides that they can be removed from the bench only for gross misconduct, and that they cannot be discharged or transferred for political reasons; however, judges have been threatened with removal at times by the Government. Magistrates, who are part of the civil service rather than the judiciary, hear the vast majority of cases and sometimes are subject to political pressure. Military courts deal with disciplinary or court-martial proceedings. Police courts, which can sentence a police officer to confinement in a camp or demotion, handle disciplinary and misconduct cases. Trials in both these latter courts meet internationally accepted standards for fair trials; defendants in these courts have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court. All levels of the judiciary often make rulings disliked by the Government.

Source: U.S. Department of State

• Zimbabwe Law Firms (Martindale-Hubbell)

• Univeristy of Zimbabwe Faculty of Law

Summer Study Abroad

• Syracuse University