JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 11 ____________________________________________________________________ The Minister of Justice personally visited the remaining members of the Supreme Court Bench in an attempt to get them to resign, but was not successful. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of the Judiciary issued a series of statements condemning the harassment and intimidation of judges in Zimbabwe and the threats to the independence of the judiciary. He said that they constituted “a direct assault on the rule of law” and pointed out the rule of law is pivotal for democracy and sustainable development in any country. The deterioration in the rule of law and the undermining of judicial independence was a matter of grave concern to the international community, he said.5 The International Bar Association also roundly condemned the undermining of the independence of the judiciary in Zimbabwe and criticised the failure by the government to honour an undertaking given to the IBA concerning the judiciary’s independence.6 Mr Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku was sworn in as Acting Chief Justice in mid-March 2001. A former deputy Minister of Justice, he is widely seen as a supporter of the ruling ZANU (PF) party and an outspoken proponent of the government’s policy of land seizure.7 He had previously been appointed as Judge President of the Supreme Court over the heads of more senior judges, and his appointment as Chief Justice also superseded senior judges, particularly those in the Supreme Court. Some 200 black lawyers petitioned the Judicial Service Commission against his appointment, but in August 2001 he was appointed substantively to the highest judicial post in the land. Although in the past he has made statements in favour of an independent judiciary 8, he is generally regarded as lacking Mr Gubbay’s independence of mind and concern for individual human rights. Since the replacement of Chief Justice Gubbay, one of the four remaining members of the Supreme Court bench has retired, one has resigned and one has died. Even before they left, three extra judges — Cheda, Ziyambi and Malaba JJA — were appointed over the heads of more senior judges (mostly white) and in breach of specific assurances given to a delegation of the IBA.9 The Minister of Justice said that the three new judges were needed to cope with a flood of appeals that was expected to arise from land acquisition cases being heard in the Administrative Court. There was never much likelihood of such a flood arising, given the nature of the Land