Court Watch 06-2024 Appointment of the Deputy Judge President and New Judges

COURT WATCH 6/2024

[June 13, 2024]

Appointment of the Deputy Judge President and New Judges

President Emmerson D. Mnangagwa according to a notice published on Thursday 12 June 2024 by the Judicial Service Commission [JSC], has appointed: 

Honourable Justice Garainashe Mawadze as the first Deputy Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe. 

Ten High Court judges and one judge for the Administrative Court were also appointed based on the recommendations of the JSC.  These appointments followed public interviews conducted by the Commission last month, where 39 candidates participated.  Prior to that the applicants had all undergone a written examination set by the JSC.

New Judges of the High Court:

The following individuals have been appointed as judges of the High Court, in accordance with section 180(1) of the Constitution:

1.     Chivayo Naison

2.     Dembure Regis

3.     Dube Mpokiseng

4.     Mambara Joel

5.     Mandaza Gibson

6.     Mushure Faith

7.     Ndlovu Vivian

8.     Nduna Ngoni

9.     Phillipa Philips

10.  Siziba Sijabuliso

Administrative Court Appointment:

    Douglas M. Kaitano has been appointed as the new Judge of the Administrative Court.

The appointment process involved rigorous public interviews, where 39 prospective candidates participated. To qualify as a High Court Judge in Zimbabwe, an individual must meet specific criteria outlined in the Constitution:

Age Requirement:  The candidate must be at least forty (40) years old.

Legal Experience: The person must have either:

o   Served as a judge in a court with unlimited jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters in a country where the common law is Roman-Dutch or English, and English is an officially recognized language.

o   Practiced as a legal practitioner for at least seven years in: Zimbabwe; or a  country with Roman-Dutch common law and English as an officially recognized language, or (For Zimbabwean citizens) a country with English common law and English as an officially recognized language.  

Fit and Proper Person:

o   The candidate must be deemed a fit and proper person to hold the office of a judge.

The procedure for appointing High Court judges involves advertising vacant positions, inviting nominations from the public, and conducting public interviews to select suitable candidates

A swearing-in ceremony for the Deputy Judge President and the eleven new judges is scheduled for Monday, June 17, 2024, at 10:00 hrs, at the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, located in the Mashonganyika Building in Harare.  This ceremony is open to the public.

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