By Martin Muleya
Mutare- Delays in Zimbabwe’s judicial system remains a key issue for policy makers and practitioners who value efficiency and effectiveness as critical outcomes of the criminal justice system, a top official has said.
Speaking during the official opening of the 2014 legal year of the Mutare High Court circuit, Justice Charles Hungwe said delays have become a benchmark against which criminal justice performance is measured.
“This is a good reason, delay among other things may be responsible for increasing community disillusionment with justice and decreasing satisfaction with law. Delay affects everyone, the accused who might or might not be guilty, the victims and their family who have been aggrieved by the offences against them, and the community who demand justice, safety and protection,” said Justice Hungwe.
Hungwe said criminal trial is a fundamental component of justice system saying persons accused of committing offences may elect to challenge those accusations in court before a panel of their peers.
“Trial affords protection for the accused so that any case against them is fair and proved beyond reasonable doubt. Similarly, the trial affords protection for the community to ensure that criminal offenders against whom there is sufficient evidence are convicted and sentenced,” he added.
Hungwe mentioned some key facts about Zimbabwean criminal system saying more criminal matters were initiated within the court system each year while criminal cases have not shown any signs of decline over the years.
“The rationale of such an inquiry is that matters that fail to proceed as scheduled contribute to the backlog and delay, both of which consume significant criminal justice resources.
“Moreover delay in criminal trial systems may result in adverse effects, not the least of which is the anguish endured by victims of crime and their families, and the community demanding protection from criminal offenders”.
Justice Hungwe emphasised on the need to promote earlier discussion and consideration of a guilty plea with the defendant, including the improvement of incentive for early guilty pleas and disincentives for non-cooperating counsel.
He said there was also need to continuously review and refine the processes in the hope that eventually master the essential ingredients which guarantee and are critical to the success of improving the early preparation and finalization of criminal trials
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