STATUTES REQUIRING CONSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENT __________________________________________________________________________________ sive regulatory power to a Minister, in this case the Minister responsible for Agriculture. Section 134(a) of the Constitution states that Parliament’s primary law-making power must not be delegated: this means that an Act of Parliament can confer power to make regulations filling in details that are not covered in the Act itself, but cannot go further. The Minister’s powers under this Act are excessively wide. They include: • determining the scope of the Act, through the power to prescribe organisms that constitute pests under section 2(2); • making regulations for the eradication of pests, including the fumigation of vehicles, the destruction of harvests, methods of cultivation, and so on; • prohibiting the importation of plants, growing media and organisms. However desirable or necessary these regulations may be, they are unconstitutional. 50. Police Act [Chapter 11:10] The Act should be amended: • to update the preamble so that it reflects sections 219 to 233 of the Constitution; • to repeat what is provided in section 207(3) of the Constitution, that the powers to appoint, promote and dismiss police officers under the Act must be exercised impartially and so as to ensure that all the diverse peoples of Zimbabwe are properly represented in the Police Service; • to enact a code of conduct to be observed by police officers in the course of their duties. The code could be based on that adopted in 2001 by the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Council; • to make it a serious disciplinary offence for a police officer to contravene section 208, by acting in a partisan manner or by violating the fundamental rights of members of the public — in particular the rights of arrested or detained persons; • to provide for members of the Police Service Commission to serve five-year terms as provided in section 320(1) of the Constitution; under section 52 of the Act the President may fix a shorter term. • to increase the powers of the Police Service Commission to investigate the conduct of police officers in order to ensure compliance with section 208; • to give the Police Service Commission, rather than the Minister, power to make regulations setting out conditions of service for police officers. • to confer on the Police Service Commission, rather than the Minister, power to make regulations for the conditions of service of police officers, as required by section 223(2) of the Constitution; • to establish an independent complaints mechanism for dealing with complaints from the public about misconduct on the part of police officers. This is mandated by section 210 of the Constitution. 51. Postal and Telecommunications Act [Chapter 12:05]* Section 61(3) of the Constitution states that broadcasting and other electronic media of communication have freedom of establishment, subject only to State licensing pro- 16