interests of any one political party or cause; not to prejudice the lawful interests of any other political party or cause; not to be an active member of any political party; and not to violate the fundamental rights or freedoms of any person. Given his comments on the Morgen Komichi case that he would like to appeal the lenient community service sentence, this is most unlikely3. ZLHR expect the political neutrality of the Prosecutor-General and the officers in the NPA to be urgently legislated by way of an Act of Parliament as part of the harmonization of laws with the new Constitution, as this is a critical issue which is in the national interest and which will improve public confidence in the justice delivery system. Insult and defamation laws Just like in 2012, 2013 witnessed a rise in the abuse of police powers and court procedures clamping down on civil liberties. Since 2010, there has been a dramatic increase in the arbitrary application of Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] (the Criminal Law Code), where individuals have been charged with allegedly “insulting or undermining the authority of the President” with ZLHR attending to 65 cases where clients have fallen foul of this law. One such example concerned the address at a rally by Paul Madzore, out of prison custody and on bail at the time and who allegedly called President Mugabe “a limping donkey” who should be retired. Due to continued delays in the justice delivery system, most of the cases were pending although two have since been finalised, with the beneficiaries being acquitted. In other instances, clients have been removed from remand due to failure by the State to prosecute timeously. The constitutionality of this provision has been challenged on several occasions, on the basis that it infringes upon the freedom of expression, particularly that of a public figure, and one who must be subject to scrutiny as a political candidate. However, the Supreme Court, sitting as a Constitutional Court, is yet to make a determination on these cases4. Attacks on the legal profession The year also saw an increase in the attack on lawyers and judges. State-controlled and other partisan media attacked the personal and professional judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe (Justice Charles Hungwe), and the integrity of the judiciary and legal profession. Hate speech and false reporting was not only tolerated, but was in fact encouraged to continue with complete impunity. The state also attacked Beatrice Mtetwa by leveling unfounded allegations while Tonderai Bhatasara was castigated by a judge. MDC Lawyers were reported to the prosecuting authority by Justice Bhunu during the hearing of the MDC election urgent chamber application requesting the production of the voters’ roll, when the Judge imputed Morgan Tsvangirai’s criticism of the Constitutional court to his lawyers. In response to this pattern of abuse, ZLHR issued a statement that reiterated the functions and duties of lawyers as officers of the court underscoring their indispensability to proper and effective justice delivery. ZLHR emphasised that the protection of lawyers in the execution of their professional duties had been expanded nationally, regionally and internationally. The Constitution of Zimbabwe in sections 70(1)(d), 69(4), 50(b)(i) and (ii) of the Declaration of Rights, guarantees the rights to legal representation of one’s choice in criminal and civil matters as part of ensuring the fundamental right to protection of the law. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (to which Zimbabwe is a State Party), and the African Union Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa both reaffirm these rights. These Principles and Guidelines further stipulate that every accused person has the right to an effective defence and representation, and that the independence of lawyers shall be guaranteed. Furthermore various United Nations (UN) instruments, which are expanded particularly in the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers bind Zimbabwe, of which the State, a member state of the UN is well aware of. 3 http://www.zimbabweelection.com/2013/11/23/tomana-wants-komichi-jailed/ 4 ZLHR 4