Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal |45 which states that courts are independent and are subject to the Constitution and law which they must apply impartially, expeditiously and without fear, favour or prejudice. It can also be argued that under s 164 (2) (a), the state is required not to interfere with the functioning of the courts, and the JSC has an implicit duty to ensure this is the case. Further, given its administrative functions to make the judiciary operate efficiently and effectively, the JSC has a clear duty to ensure that the state, as proclaimed in s 164 (2) (b), assists and protects courts to ensure their independence and well-being. This the JSC can do by approaching the state for adequate funding for salaries and administration costs. Moreover, the JSC has a duty implied in s 165 to ensure that its members follow the guiding principles related to judicial independence such as to desist from any political activity, or acceptance or solicitation of any gift, loan or favour that may influence their judicial conduct.41 As indicated already, the adoption of the Judicial Service Act, the Judicial Service Regulations and the Judicial Service (Code of Ethics) Regulations has been made in order to enhance the mandate, role and responsibility of the JSC under the Constitution. There are many provisions in these Acts that have a direct bearing on judicial independence and those provisions are an expression of the commitment of JSC towards promoting judicial independence. These include personal and institutional independence, integrity, propriety, equality, impartiality and competence and diligence.42 Other important aspects related to judicial independence relate to the need to curb corruption, dishonesty and involvement in political activities.43 These are similar to the principles expressed in s 165. Therefore to a large extent, by including these values and principles as part of the ethics that the judiciary should abide by, the JSC’s constitutional mandate of promoting judicial independence is made very clear. 2.3 Composition of JSC and judicial independence The composition of the JSC itself, in theory and in practice, has great implications for the independence of the judiciary and its integrity. This is because if the JSC is not composed of fit and proper persons 41 Section 165 (5) 42 Section 4 43 Third Schedule to Section 45 of the Judicial Service Regulations