A Guide to Understanding A Guide to Understanding the the NATIONAL NATIONAL PEACE & RECONCILIATION PEACE & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION COMMISSION IN ZIMBABWE IN ZIMBABWE Which law regulates the NPRC? Acknowledgments 2.0 C The National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG) ommissions that seek to address past human rights violations acknowledges given are by established various stakeholders during the and wrongs support like the NPRC through various development of this guide. agreements, an order by the Head means such as peace of State such as a President or Prime Minister – called executive Specialand thanks go tolaws the made secretariat of the NTJWG, whichis is the decrees, through by Parliament. The NPRC established byHuman the Constitution Zimbabwe which came into Zimbabwe Rights NGOof Forum. operation in 2013 following a constitution reform process. This guide would not have been successful without the generous support of our funding partners. 2.1 The NPRC and the Constitution For feedback and information in this guide, we are grateful to the The NPRC is established by section 251 of the Constitution of stakeholders who read through the draft guide and gave valuable Zimbabwe. Section 251 further outlines the appointment procedure of input. the Commissioners, the tenure of the Commission, and the qualifications for the Commissioners including the Chairperson. Finally,252 weoutlines owe it tothe theten thousands of of victims who have requested Section functions the NPRC. Section 253 for covers the reports of the Of all the laws govern thekeeps this simplified guide. It isNPRC. their enduring hope forthat healing which NPRC, is the most supreme. us onthe ourConstitution feet. 2.2 The NPRC Law Apart from the Constitutional provisions discussed above, there is also the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Act (Chapter 10:32) (the NPRC Act) which was gazetted on 5 January 2018. The Act was a product of intense lobbying by civil society. The NPRC Why is there a need for another law outside the Constitution? The Constitution established a skeletal framework in broad terms. An Act of Parliament provides the flesh required for the NPRC to operate. The Act sets out the operational modalities and gives the NPRC the tools it needs to achieve the functions set out in the Constitution. The Constitution is the highest law of Zimbabwe. Any piece of law made by Parliament of Zimbabwe that contradicts the Constitution is invalid. This means that the NPRC Act should 12 4