Summoning, Prorogation and Dissolution of Parliament
31. Each session of Parliament will be held at such place and will begin at such time as the President
may determine but not more than six months will be permitted to elapse between the end of one session
and the beginning of the next.
32. The President will be able to prorogue or dissolve Parliament at any time on the advice of the Prime
Minister.
33. If the House of Assembly at any time passes a motion of no confidence in the Government and the
Prime Minister does not within three days resign or ask for a dissolution, the President will be required
to dissolve Parliament.
34. Unless it is already dissolved, Parliament will stand dissolved automatically at the end of five years
from the date of the first sitting of the House of Assembly after the previous dissolution. There will be
provision for limited extensions of Parliament's life if Zimbabwe is at war or in periods of emergency.
F. THE JUDICATURE
1. There will be a High Court of Zimbabwe, consisting of an Appellate Division and a General
Division. It will have unlimited original jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters and such other
jurisdiction as may be conferred on it by the Constitution or any other law. Appeals will lie from
decisions of the General Division to the Appellate Division.
2. There shall be a Chief Justice and other judges of the High Court.
3. The Chief Justice will be appointed by the President, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Before tendering his advice the Prime Minister will consider any recommendations from the Judicial
Service Commission. If he departs from any such recommendations Parliament will be informed before
the appointment is made.
4. The other judges of the High Court will be appointed by the President, acting on the advice of the
Judicial Service Commission.
5. A person will not be qualified to be appointed as a judge of the High Court unlessa. he is or has been a judge of a superior court in a country in which the common law is Roman-Dutch
or English and English is an official language; or
b. he is, and has been for not less than seven years, qualified to practise as an advocate in Zimbabwe or
in a country in which the common law is Roman-Dutch or English and in any such case English is an
official language. Experience in a country where the common law is English will count only in the case
of citizens of Zimbabwe.
6. If the office of Chief Justice is vacant or the Chief Justice is temporarily unable to perform the
functions of his office, the President will be able to designate one of the other judges of the High Court
to act in his place.
7. A judge of the High Court will not be removable from office before reaching retiring age except for
physical or mental incapacity or for misconduct. If the President considers that the question of
removing a judge on one of these grounds ought to be investigated, he will appoint a tribunal consisting
of a Chairman and two other legally qualified members. When that tribunal has enquired into the
matter, it will report to the President and advise him whether to refer the question of the judge's
removal to the Judicial Service Commission. If the Commission recommends that the President should
remove the judge from office, the President will do so. When the case of the judge is being investigated
by the tribunal, the President may suspend him from performing the functions of his office.
8. There will be a Judicial Service Commission, consisting of the Chief Justice as the Chairman, the
Chairman of the Public Service Commission, a legally qualified person appointed by the President and
a member appointed by the President, in each case acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. The
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