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Fidelis Munyoro

The Judicial Service Commission is calling for nominations for candidates to fill the 10 vacant posts on the High Court bench and one on the Administrative Court.

In an advert published today, the JSC is inviting members of the public to nominate eligible candidates to fill named vacancies at the High Court bench.

The deadline for nomination is April 24.

The High Court has a total of 67 judges in Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo and Mutare, the four divisions of the court.

At least seven judges have either fired or resigned from the bench over the past few years.

In terms of Section 179 of the Constitution, a person qualified for appointment as a judge of the High Court must be at least 40-years-old, have been a judge of a court with unlimited jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters in a country in which the common law is Roman-Dutch or English, and English is an officially recognised language or have been qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe or in a country in which Roman-Dutch or English and English is an officially recognised language for at least seven years and is still so qualified, and is a Zimbabwean citizen.

After meeting those basic requirements, the prospective judge then has to show they are a proper person to hold office as a judge of the High Court, which is where their personal attributes, their standing in society and the legal profession, their legal experience and background and other factors not spelled out in the Constitution come into the reckoning.