By Tatenda Mujeyi
The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is committed to uplifting standards of the country’s courts through renovations and building new courts.
The revelation was made by most speakers at the official opening of the Labour Court in Rotten Row Harare.
The Labour Court was officially opened by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa, following commencement of the project in June 2018
“I would like to commend your work, your innovation should be adopted by the other departments” the President said at the official opening.
The Commission is also working towards the commencement of the commercial court, with the building having been bought.
“We are currently working towards commencement of the Commercial Court establishment, with the building having been bought,” Chief Justice Luke Malaba said at the event.
“The Commercial Court will be the first paperless court with the tenders having been submitted to the Procurement Authority of Zimbabwe for the purchase of a case management system,” he further said
The commission is also driving towards decentralisation of courts to Communities with the commencement projects bieng Epworth, Mabvuku Tafara and Budiriro.
“We are decentralising courts to district level, Epworth has allocated land for the project and we await Harare City Council to allocate land for the Mabvuku Tafara and Budiriro projects,” Chief Justice Malaba said.
Government is also refurbishing the Rotten Row and Mbare courts, with over 60% of the project already complete.
“The court rooms at Rotten Row Magistrates court are under renovation for the first time since 1980 with 12 of the 20 courts having been completed” the Chief Justice also said.
The opening of the court comes months after Government successfully opened High Courts in Mutare and Masvingo and refurbished the Bulawayo High Court.
“Three more courtrooms have been opened in Bulawayo, a cinema was turned into a High court in Mutare and the Masvingo court has been opened,” the Chief Justice.
The President took time to urge local authorities to institute by-laws that stipulate time frames for renovations on buildings in the city as some buildings had deterioated.
The official opening was attended by Ministers, RBZ official’s among other top government officials under the theme, “Enhancing access to Justice through improved court facilities.