Private prosecutions in Zimbabwe Victim participation in the criminal justice system

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dc.contributor.authorMujuzi, Jamil Ddamulira
dc.date.accessioned2018-06-06T11:55:21Z
dc.date.available2018-06-06T11:55:21Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractTwo recent developments have changed the face of private prosecutions in Zimbabwe. Firstly, the prosecutor general 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.en_US
dc.description.accreditationDHET
dc.identifier.citationMujuzi, Jamil Ddamulira (2016). Private prosecutions in Zimbabwe Victim participation in the criminal justice system. SA Crime Quarterly, 56: 37-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2016/v0n56a44en_US
dc.identifier.issn2413-3108
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2016/v0n56a44
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/3778
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.publisherCreative Commonsen_US
dc.rightsThis is the author version of the article published online at: https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2016/v0n56a44
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE
dc.subjectPrivate Prosecutionsen_US
dc.subjectZimbabween_US
dc.subjectVictim Participationen_US
dc.subjectCriminal Justice Systemen_US
dc.subjectProsecutorial Independenceen_US
dc.titlePrivate prosecutions in Zimbabwe Victim participation in the criminal justice systemen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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