12 JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE ____________________________________________________________________ Acquisition Act, and nearly a year later the flood has not materialised. There was a suspicion that, like the Chief Justice, the three new judges were appointed because they were likely to support the government in politically sensitive cases. Their record since their appointment has given more than a little substance to this suspicion. In the High Court Mr Justice Chidyausiku was replaced as Judge President by Mr Justice Garwe, who like his predecessor was not the most senior judge eligible for the post. Several High Court judges10 resigned from the Bench amid speculation that they had been intimidated into leaving or had resigned in protest. All had been criticised by government spokespersons for judgments they had given in politically sensitive cases. They have been replaced by judges who are believed to be sympathetic to the government. Some have clearly shown themselves to be so11, but some (including a former ZANU (PF) Member of Parliament) have displayed commendable independence on several occasions. Arrest of former judge Mr Blackie No serving judges have been physically assaulted by agents of the government or supporters of the ruling party, as has been the case with magistrates, but a recentlyretired judge, Mr Fergus Blackie, was arrested in the early hours of the morning of 13 September 2002 on charges arising from a judgment he delivered in an appeal before his retirement. The allegation, it seems, is that the judge set aside a white 12 woman’s conviction for theft and quashed the prison sentence imposed on her by a magistrate, but did so without the consent of the judge who heard the appeal with him. A report in the Herald of 14 September 2002 indicated that Mr Blackie was being charged with contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act [Chapter 9:16] or, alternatively, defeating the course of justice. The report further stated that Mrs White, the woman whose appeal he had allowed, had also been arrested. The allegations against Mr Blackie were reported at length in the Herald of 13 September 2002; the report contained apparently verbatim extracts from letters and reports on the subject written by the Judge President, by the judge who sat in the appeal with Mr Blackie, by the law officer who appeared for the State in the appeal, and by the Chief Justice. It was most improper of the newspaper to have published