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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
MORE than 100 top judges from Sadc countries are expected to start meeting today in Victoria Falls for a four-day Chief Justices Conference to deliberate on best practices and fair trial issues. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), led by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, is hosting the annual event which rotates among Sadc member states.

JSC Deputy Secretary Walter Chikwanha told The Chronicle that Chief Justices from 13 Sadc countries and their counterparts from three countries in East Africa and their delegations will be attending the conference.

“The JSC is hosting the Southern African Chief Justices Conference which starts on August 26 and ends on August 29,” said Chikwanha.

He said the theme for the conference, which kicks off today at Elephant Hills Resort, is “Guaranteeing the right to fair trial: Best practices.”

“There are 13 Chief Justices from Sadc who are attending with their delegations and will be joined by counterparts from Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar who are out of Sadc but are attending the conference,” said Chikwanha.

“We expect about 100 judges and they’ll discuss best practices in various jurisdictions on how the system can guarantee fair trial.”

He said academics would make presentations at the conference.

There have been calls to effectively deal with the corruption in the country’s justice delivery system after some, including prosecutors and magistrates, have been caught up in graft scandals that saw some being fired.

Even some police officers have been charged for abuse of public office when dealing with suspects.