Zimbabwe judges dodged a bullet when officials scrapped a weird training event. The Judicial Service Commission backed down after lawyers threatened to march and sue them. Government bigwigs wanted to teach judges about business management systems that have nothing to do with court work. Party ideology teachers and spy chiefs planned to run the show at Rainbow Towers Hotel.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba told all judges they had to attend the July event. Legal experts across the country went ballistic about the plan. Lawyers said having ruling party teachers and intelligence officers train judges would wreck court independence. The whole setup looked like political meddling disguised as education.
Attorney Tendai Biti and his colleague Jeremiah Bamu were rushing to High Court to stop the program. They prepared legal papers arguing that executive branch officials cannot train judges without breaking constitutional rules. Beatrice Mtetwa organized a protest march to deliver complaints directly to the chief justice. Police called her to say the march was no longer needed after the cancellation.
Catholic lawyers also slammed the training idea as dangerous to judicial independence. They said public trust in courts was already low because people think politicians control judges. The commission admitted their original program was inappropriate for judicial independence requirements. Critics wondered how such a flawed plan got approved in the first place.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba told all judges they had to attend the July event. Legal experts across the country went ballistic about the plan. Lawyers said having ruling party teachers and intelligence officers train judges would wreck court independence. The whole setup looked like political meddling disguised as education.
Attorney Tendai Biti and his colleague Jeremiah Bamu were rushing to High Court to stop the program. They prepared legal papers arguing that executive branch officials cannot train judges without breaking constitutional rules. Beatrice Mtetwa organized a protest march to deliver complaints directly to the chief justice. Police called her to say the march was no longer needed after the cancellation.
Catholic lawyers also slammed the training idea as dangerous to judicial independence. They said public trust in courts was already low because people think politicians control judges. The commission admitted their original program was inappropriate for judicial independence requirements. Critics wondered how such a flawed plan got approved in the first place.
