(3) Any power conferred by this Act upon a court may be exercised, subject to any enactment by which the court is constituted, by the person presiding over the court. (4) Where any period for the giving of notice in terms of this Act is expressed in days, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays shall not be counted as part of the period. 3 Application of Act This Act shall apply only to civil proceedings. PART II C OMPETENCE AND C OMPELLABILITY OF WITNESSES 4 Competence of witnesses generally Except as otherwise provided in this Act or any other enactment, every person shall be competent to give evidence in any civil proceedings. 5 Incompetence due to mental disorder, liquor or drugs No person who is— (a) suffering from any mental disorder or defect; or (b) under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs; to such an extent that he is deprived of the proper use of his reason shall be competent to give evidence whilst he is so suffering or whilst he is so influenced. 6 Spouses: when competent and compellable (1) In this section— “spouse” includes a party to a marriage contracted according to customary law, which— (a) has been solemnized under the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07]; or (b) was registered on or after the 1st February, 1918, under the Native Marriages Act [Chapter 79 of 1939]; or (c) being a marriage contracted outside Zimbabwe, is recognized as a valid marriage in the country in which it was contracted. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the spouse of a party to civil proceedings shall be competent and compellable as a witness in those proceedings. (3) No person shall be compelled to disclose any communication, whether oral or in writing, made by him to his spouse or made to him by his spouse during their marriage. (4) Subsection (3) shall apply whether or not the marriage has been subsequently terminated by death or dissolved or annulled by order of a court. (5) No person shall be compelled to give any evidence which the spouse of that person coul d not be compelled to give. PART III P RIVILEGE 7 Privilege from incrimination in respect of criminal proceedings, penalties or forfeiture No person shall be compelled to give any evidence if the evidence would tend to expose him to— (a) criminal proceedings in respect of an offence against the law of Zimbabwe; or (b) proceedings for the recovery of any penalty or forfeiture in favour of the State in terms of any enactment in force in Zimbabwe 8 Privilege relating to legal profession (1) In this section— “client”, in relation to a legal practitioner, means a person who consults or employs the legal practitioner in his professional capacity; “confidential communication” means a communication made by such a method or in such circumstances that, so far as the person making it is aware, its contents are disclosed to no one other than the person to whom it was made; “legal practitioner” means a person entitled to practise in Zimbabwe as a legal practitioner or entitled to practise outside Zimbabwe in an equivalent capacity; “third party”, in relation to legal proceedings, means a person who is not a party to those proceedings. (2) No person shall disclose in evidence any confidential communication between— (a) a client and his legal practitioner or the legal practitioner’s employee or agent; or (b) a client’s employee or agent and the client’s legal practitioner or the legal practitioner’s employee or agent; where the confidential communication was made for the purpose of enabling the client to obtain, or the legal practitioner to give the client, any legal advice.