Zimbabwe's High Court scraps HIV charge ruling

A collapsed prosecution path cracked open when a higher bench yanked a lower ruling for breaking basic legal rules.

Case setup and repealed charge

• Lindiwe Ndlovu was arrested in March 2022.
• Charges leaned on section 79 of criminal law.
• That provision punished intentional HIV transmission.
• Repeal arrived in May 2022 via the Marriages Act.

The rights argument and the magistrate's response

• Her defense pointed to constitutional protection against retroactive punishment.
• Section 70(1)(l) blocks convictions for erased offences.
• August 2022 saw a bid to kill the charges.
• The magistrate leaned on the Interpretation Act section 17.

Referral fight and rejection

• Ndlovu asked for Constitutional Court involvement.
• The magistrate dismissed the request as baseless.
• Language used tagged the filing as defective.
• Reasoning demanded live witness testimony.

High Court teardown

• Justice Maxwell Takuva overturned the lower stance.
• He said procedural handling went off the rails.
• Live testimony was unnecessary for a pure law question.
• Authority was exceeded by weighing constitutional meaning.

Outcome and next steps

• The magistrate's decision was set aside entirely.
• Review permission cleared a path upstairs.
• Referral to the Constitutional Court was approved.
• Legal costs drew no order.