police. Their impartiality could be improved, if not ensured, by giving the Police Service Commission power to oversee the operations of the Police Force and to institute measures to improve its efficiency and impartiality. And a police complaints office could be enshrined in the constitution. The defence and intelligence services should have nothing whatever to do with the enforcement of the civil law. Acceptance of internationally-recognised fundamental rights and freedoms: Respect for human rights is not a necessary ingredient of the rule of law — they are different concepts — but nonetheless if fundamental human rights and freedoms are recognised and enforceable under the Constitution then the government is more likely to respect the rule of law. The constitution might well provide that international conventions become part of Zimbabwean law once they have been ratified by Parliament. Making of good laws: A constitution cannot ensure that all laws passed by the Legislature are good laws, but it can go some way towards this end, such as by: • Prohibiting the enactment of legislation which retroactively deprives people of vested rights or which retroactively criminalises conduct [there is such a provision in section 18(5) of the present Constitution]. • Providing that no law can be passed, by Parliament or by any other authority, unless there has been adequate consultation with interested parties. The precise method of consultation would not be stated in the Constitution, but in the case of Parliament it could consist of the publication of white papers, the holding of hearings by portfolio committees, and so on. A final point At the beginning of this bulletin, we mentioned section 18(1a) of the current Constitution, which states that all public officers have a duty towards every person in Zimbabwe to act in accordance with the law and to observe and uphold the rule of law. The importance of this provision should not be underestimated. In the clearest terms it states that all public officers — and the term encompasses State employees from the President downwards — have a duty to act in accordance with the law, and that the duty is owed to “every person in Zimbabwe”. What this means is that if, for example, a police officer fails to investigate a politically-motivated assault, then everyone — not just the victim — can sue the officer for breach of duty. And if the Registrar-General’s Office illegally removes someone’s name from the voters’ roll then everyone, not just the voter, can apply to court for the person’s name to be restored to the roll. The traditional view, that only people who have a material interest in a matter can apply to a court for redress, no longer applies in relation to breach of duty by public officers [though it probably continues to apply to applications direct to the Supreme Court under section 24 of the Constitution]. ___________________________ 15