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Fidelis Munyoro

The much-awaited public interviews of candidates nominated to fill nine vacant positions of judges of the High Court will be conducted next week, the Judicial Service Commission has said.

At least 35 candidates have been shortlisted for the interviews, which were supposed to be held last month but were deferred due to the spike in Covid-19 infections and the Government’s call for all institutions to further restrict operations.

In a statement, the JSC said the interviews would be held from August 30 to September 1 at a city hotel, but under strict Covid-19 regulations.

The JSC, however, urged members of the public not to come to the venue as part of measures to contain the spread of the deadly corona virus. The interviews would be streamed live.

“As previously advised and in the interests of public health, the Judicial Service Commission discourages members of the public from physically attending at the venue of the interviews,” said the JSC.

“To ensure compliance with the requirement to hold the interviews in public the proceedings will be streamed live on Judicial Service Commission media platforms (Twitter & Facebook). The Judicial Service Commission has engaged the national broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, to have the interview proceedings beamed live.”

Thirty-five candidates, among them regional magistrates and lawyers are jostling to fill the nine vacant positions of judges of the High Court bench, according to the list of nominated candidates shortlisted for the interviews.

The interviews followed the invitation to members of the public and to the President last month, to nominate suitably qualified persons to be appointed as judges of the High Court, in terms of section 180 (4) of the Constitution.

In terms of the law, the JSC conducts public interviews for the prospective judges after the nominations and then sends a list of recommended interviewees to the President who may assent to the names or ask the JSC to submit a fresh set of names.

Under the Constitution, a person is qualified for appointment as a judge of the High Court if he or she is at least 40 years old.

The person should also have, for at least 10 years, been qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe or any country with the same common law as in Zimbabwe, or in a country which the common law is Roman-Dutch or English. English should be an officially recognised language for practice.