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Chief Justice Malaba

From Abel Zhakata in Mutare
The establishment of a permanent High Court here is in line with the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) mandate to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of justice to the people, Chief Justice Luke Malaba has said.

Addressing journalists after touring the construction site of the upper court yesterday, Chief Justice Malaba — who was accompanied by JSC secretary Justice Rita Makarau — said the setting up of the court would make justice accessible to the community.

“We always talk in the Judiciary about bringing access to justice to the people,” he said.

“This is a demonstration of the fulfilment of that principle; not just on the part of the Judiciary, but on the part of Government as a whole.

“This is a remarkable development, not only in respect of the fulfilment of a broader programme, but in respect of the satisfaction of the aspirations of our people.

“In this regard, we are talking about the wishes of the people of Mutare and Manicaland as a whole. Bringing a High Court like this decentralises services and ensures also efficiency in the delivery of services.”

Chief Justice Malaba said people from Manicaland were incurring huge costs to seek justice at the High Court in Harare.

“They had been placed in a situation where they have to decide whether its worthy to pursue a matter . . . and at the end of the day, a litigant will give up not because he or she has no faith in the strength of his or her case, but because he or she is discouraged by the costs of having to travel all the way to Harare to get justice,” he said.

“Therefore, we are bringing justice to the door step of the people. Having taken tour of the building I am greatly impressed by the standard of work that is going on in this building.

“To me, the structure itself and the work being undertaken can only attest to a very high standard and to a qualitative building befitting to the kind of service that is going to be delivered from this building.”

Chief Justice Malaba said construction work was expected to be completed by June.

After touring the site, he held a conference with stakeholders in the legal fraternity at the Mutare Magistrates’ Court, where he implored them to ensure efficient service delivery.

“Let’s focus on qualitative deliverance,” said Chief Justice Malaba. “The efficiency in delivering justice does not mean delay. If a case is delayed, judgment is delayed and that is an injustice; simple and straightforward.”

Justice Makarau said the new High Court would be paperless, as it would concentrate on e-filing.

“We are going to start this here in Mutare and it will be our pilot project,” she said.

“I would want to urge the Mutare community to actually make use of this new court.

“Legal practitioners who have matters that are in Harare we ask you to identify them now so that once this court is operational you transfer all those cases to Mutare. We don’t want you to keep on going back to Harare.”

“I have said by Third Term, which begins around September or October, this High Court should be opened.”