Judgment No. CCZ 10 /2015 10
Const. Application No. 8/2014
The court thus effectively affirmed the finality of the Supreme Court judgment
on a matter that was not determined by that court as a constitutional issue. By that token, the
matter was not one that fell into the category of those over which the Constitutional Court had
jurisdiction. As already stated, these are matters that are properly brought to the Constitutional
Court.
I find the dicta cited above to be eminently apposite in casu. This is because
while the applicant did not specifically state so in his application, in reality the matter was an
appeal brought to this Court under the guise of an application. This is abundantly evident from
the relief that is outlined in his draft order. It is even more evident from his summary of the
background to the intended application, as already indicated. He indicated that he wished to
approach this Court “for an order setting aside the Supreme Court judgment on the basis that
it interferes with the independence of his office and as such it is ultra vires provisions of s 260
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe…”. Like in the case referred to above, the issue that I have
underlined, and others that the applicant sought to bring before this Court, similarly ‘arose’
after the Supreme Court judgment was pronounced. They could not have been and in fact were
not, raised before the Supreme Court and needless to say, not determined by it as constitutional
matters. The issues therefore did not meet the requirement for inclusion into “matters over
which the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction”.
On the basis of the authority cited above, and upon a proper interpretation of
the relevant provisions alluded to in this context, the judgment of the Supreme Court on these
matters, which the applicant sought to have reversed, was final and definitive. It is a decision
that may not be interfered with by this Court.