MUTARE-The High Court in Mutare has been commended for its work over
the past two consecutive years after achieving 100 percent case clearance rates
for both 2022 and 2023.

Officially opening the 2024 legal year on Monday last week, Constitutional
Court Judge Justice Paddington Garwe said the expedited delivery of justice
remained the central goal of the judiciary applauding judges and support staff
for their hard work in both the civil and criminal divisions of the High Court.

“I take this opportunity to commend both the Judges and support staff at Mutare
High Court for working hard. This is so because a hundred percent clearance of
cases can only be achieved through hard work,” said Justice Garwe.

The Civil division began 2023 with no backlog and during the course of the
year received 278 cases which were all completed within the year.

Of the 1 666 cases received on the criminal division, which started off with no
backlog, all of them were completed during the course of the year.

Meanwhile, the Magistrates Court Criminal division for Manicaland province
opened its year with 651 cases from 2022. The courts received 9 909 bringing
the total number of cases to 10 560.

The courts managed to complete 10 044 cases and closed the year with 468
pending cases. This gave the criminal division a case clearance rate of 95
percent consequently, reflecting a reduction in the case backlog as compared to
2022.

At the start of 2023 the civil division of all the Magistrates Courts in
Manicaland had a backlog of 1 424 cases. During the year the courts received
102 354 cases making the total number of cases before the courts 103 778. The
courts managed to complete 102 927 cases and carried over 851 cases into
2024.

Justice Garwe urged all court staff and the judiciary to continue working hard to
ensure the expedition of cases brought before the courts.

“The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) acknowledges and thanks all judges
and magistrates for their tireless efforts during the past year. They all
immensely contributed to ensuring that cases were disposed of with minimum
delays. The JSC Secretariat is equally commended for the material and
logistical support timeously given to courts, without which the courts would
struggle to function,” he said.

The past legal year was significant for its focus on promoting competence and
quality of service within the Judicial Service to foster public confidence in the
Judiciary.

The JSC focused on the development of the membership of the Judicial Service.
To this end, the Judicial Training Institute of Zimbabwe (“JTIZ”) facilitated
various training programmes that were aimed at developing the competence and
the quality of service in the various units of the JSC and the Judiciary at large.

The first quarter of the year saw the hosting of the Magistrates’ National
Conference where 207 magistrates were trained by seasoned judicial and non-
judicial experts on aspects aimed at improving efficiency and promptness in the
performance of their duties.