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Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku

Harare Bureau
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku yesterday questioned the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on why it was employing members of the security forces as prosecutors, as opposed to engaging civilians.

He asked law officer Sharon Fero from the Prosecutor General’s office why the NPA insisted on employing police officers and other members of the security forces as public prosecutors in various courts nationwide at the expense of qualified lawyers.

This followed a Constitutional Court application filed by the Zimbabwe Law Officers’ Association through its secretary-general Dereck Charamba challenging the use of members of the security forces as prosecutors.

Chief Justice Chidyausiku asked Fero to give him one good reason why it was important to employ members of the security forces as prosecutors.

“Why do you really want the police to do your job, when you don’t do their job?” he asked. “We cherish our independence. We don’t want the police to be judges. Give me one advantage of using a police prosecutor as opposed to a civilian prosecutor.
“In principle, I don’t see the reason why the Prosecutor General would want his job done by the police.”

Chief Justice Chidyausiku said it was difficult to maintain fairness, considering allegations that police officers sometimes beat up suspects in police custody while soliciting confessions.

“If that person who was once beaten by the police sees the same police officer prosecuting, will that person see a fair trial coming his way? Would that person freely express himself/herself in court being prosecuted by a police officer, against the beating background?”

Fero said the Chief Justice had asked her a difficult question, but said employing police prosecutors was not a new phenomenon.

“My Lord, this has gone over the years, it’s not a new thing. When these people were employed probably there weren’t enough qualified job seekers or maybe it was about the working conditions which the qualified people shunned.”

Fero said once they were under the Prosecutor General’s Office, the members of the security forces would take instructions from the office.

In her submissions, Fero said in other countries it was common for police prosecutors to be engaged to perform prosecutorial duties without any apprehension that their work could interfere with the administration of justice.

She gave examples of countries such as Australia and New Zealand which she said used police prosecutors and said the fear of compromising the justice delivery system by merely engaging members of the security services in prosecution duties was far-fetched.

ZILOA lawyer Tawanda Zhuwarara said the use of members of the security forces in prosecution was a threat to the fair trial rights of accused persons.

He said Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana should disengage all members of the security services within its ranks, although he could use them in cases of national emergency.

The NPA, the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Police Commissioner-General were cited as respondents in the application.

The full Constitutional Court bench of nine judges reserved ruling on the matter.