Rule of law and judicial independence

This chapter demonstrates that both the Lancaster House Constitution and the new Constitution of Zimbabwe subscribe to the idea of rule of law and judicial independence. To fully comprehend the issue of rule of law and judicial independence in Zimbabwe, one has to consider the circumstances which prevailed in the country’s transition from a racist colonial past to black majority rule. Challenges to the rule of law and judicial independence in Zimbabwe are much more multifarious than the obvious issues relating to an enabling institutional framework. Legal and judicial reform would rebuild the independence and impartiality of law and legal institution, thereupon contributing to the public tenability of both the judiciary and the laws. Tensions between local history and the paradigmatic discourse can be read from Zimbabwe’s experience with the rule of law and judicial reform since the country’s transition from colonial rule to the epoch.