BULAWAYO courts cleared nearly 23 000 cases last year, while 987 cases are still outstanding, Deputy Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza revealed on Monday in Bulawayo during the official opening of the 2024 legal year.
The Deputy Chief Justice heaped praise on Bulawayo’s High Court civil and criminal divisions, the Labour Court and the Magistrates Courts for clearing 22 734 cases in 2023.
The Bulawayo High Court civil division cleared 94,9% of the 2 322 cases in its basket, carrying over 118 cases into this year.
The High Court criminal division cleared 3 912 cases, representing 98,5%, while 58 cases are expected to be completed this year.
“Looking at the Bulawayo Magistrates Court, criminal cases for 2023, the Bulawayo province commenced with 866 cases and received 7 770 cases to make a total of 8 636 cases. Eight thousand and thirty-three cases were completed, leaving a balance of 603 cases pending. The clearance rate for 2023, in this respect, was 93% also commended,” she said.
“Looking at the civil cases at the magistrate courts, it commenced with 168 cases and received 8 349 cases giving a total of 8 517 cases. A total of 8371 cases were completed leaving a balance of 146 cases. The clearance rate was 98,2% and highly commendable.”
The Deputy Chief Justice said the Bulawayo Labour Court started the year with 67 cases and received 209 cases, to make a total of 276 cases and 214 cases were cleared and a balance of 62 cases are pending.
“The courts in the Bulawayo region as per figures that I gave demonstrated commendable performance by successfully reducing their backlog,” she said, noting that the Judicial Service Commission will continue to develop essential court facilities and infrastructure throughout 2023.
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“The construction of the Epworth Magistrates Court (in Harare) was completed and the court was officially opened by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, on March 27, 2023. It comprises a main court structure with two courtrooms, a cell block, separate ablution facilities, a witness shed and two on-site boreholes.
“Another magistrates’ courthouse was commissioned at Chikombedzi (in Masvingo province) by the Chief Magistrate on October 9, 2023. The courthouse is intended to cater for the local inhabitants of the area. It has one main court structure with a single courtroom,” the Deputy Chief Justice noted.
She revealed that many construction projects are pending, while the construction of courthouses were underway and at different stages of completion at Mutawatawa, Chiredzi, Gwanda and Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park.
“At Chegutu and Mbare, the construction of additional courtrooms is underway, with one of the courtrooms earmarked as a regional magistrates’ court. These projects will be completed during the course of the current year,” she added.
