COMMISSIONS WATCH 17th July 2019 [POWERS OF ARREST FOR
ZACC OFFICERS: WHAT IT MEANS]
• to arrest without warrant anyone they see committing or attempting to
commit a crime or whom they reasonably suspect of doing so [section
25 of the Act]
• to arrest persons on the authority of a warrant of arrest issued by a
judge or magistrate [section 34]
• to demand the name and address of anyone suspected of committing a
crime or who may be able to give evidence regarding a crime [section
26]
• to search anyone they have arrested and to take their fingerprints
[sections 41 and 41D]
Limits of peace officers’ powers
Although the powers of peace officers are broad, they are not unlimited:
• Arrest must be for a proper purpose: Peace officers should not arrest
people automatically even if they have reasonable grounds to believe
they have committed a crime. Persons may be arrested to ensure they
appear in court and stand trial, or to stop them committing a crime or
interfering with the evidence; but if an arrest is done for some other
purpose, e.g. to intimidate or punish them, then it is illegal. The power
of arrest, in other words, must be exercised carefully and reasonably.
• Power of search: Under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act only
police officers are allowed to enter premises and search for evidence.
Other peace officers cannot do so. Even if ZACC’s officers are
designated as peace officers, therefore, they will not have general
powers of search ‒ though it must be pointed out that the Schedule to
the Anti-Corruption Commission Act states that they can enter premises
and require public officers or their agents to answer questions – but they
cannot search the premises.
Is the Designation of ZACC’s Officers as Peace Officers Legal?
On the face of it SI 143 seems perfectly legal. The Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act empowers the Minister of Justice to publish statutory
instruments designating anyone as peace officers, and that is what he has
done in SI 143. The SI seems a reasonable exercise of the Minister’s
power because, to judge from the chairperson’s excited remarks quoted at
the beginning of this bulletin, ZACC’s officers need to be able to arrest
suspects.
On the other hand, there are grounds for saying that the SI is illegal:
• Section 255 of the Constitution, which sets out ZACC’s functions, states
in subsection (3):
“The Government must ensure, through legislative and other means,
that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has power to
recommend the arrest and secure the prosecution of persons