Private prosecutions in Zimbabwe: Victim participation in the criminal justice system
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Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Security Studies (ISS)
Abstract
Two recent developments have changed the face of private prosecutions in Zimbabwe. Firstly, the prosecutorgeneral
had to decide: (1) whether private companies may institute private prosecutions; and (2) whether the
prosecutor-general, if he had declined to prosecute, was obliged to issue a certificate to a crime victim to
institute a private prosecution. Both questions were answered in the negative. Victims of crime challenged
this in court and the Supreme Court ruled that the prosecutor-general is obliged to issue a certificate should
he decline to prosecute. In response, the prosecutor-general adopted two strategies: (1) to apply to the
Constitutional Court against the Supreme Court’s ruling that he is obliged to issue such a certificate; and
(2) to have the relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) amended so that the
law clearly states that he is not obliged to issue such a certificate, and that companies are not permitted to
institute private prosecutions. This article argues that despite these recent amendments to the CPEA, there
are cases where the prosecutor-general may be compelled to issue a certificate to a crime victim to institute a
private prosecution. These developments are important for South Africa, as a South African non-governmental
organisation has petitioned the courts and argued that a law prohibiting it from instituting private prosecutions
is discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. South African courts may find Zimbabwean case law helpful in
resolving this issue.
Description
Keywords
Private prosecutions, Zimbabwe, Prosecutor-general, Supreme court
Citation
Mujuzi, J.D. (2016). Private prosecutions in Zimbabwe: Victim participation in the criminal justice system. SA Crime Quarterly, 56: 37 - 45