High Court judgment outlaws arbitrary detention of foreign nationals

The High Court of Zimbabwe has passed a judgment which outlaws the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has said.

ZLHR said the Immigration Act, has been abused for several years by the authorities to arbitrarily detain foreign nationals suspected of committing crimes in Zimbabwe.

“We have once again obtained yet another landmark judgment with the High Court dismantling an unconstitutional provision of the Immigration Act, which authorities had abused for several years to arbitrarily detain foreign nationals suspected of committing crimes in Zimbabwe as this right allows for the pre-trial processes to be brought into the open and for rights to be vindicated.

“Justice Dube-Banda’s court order declaring section 8(1) of the Immigration Act to be inconsistent with section 50(2)(b) of the Constitution and invalid, now awaits to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court,” noted the ZLHR.

The High Court Judge’s ruling came after Tatenda Chakabva, a Harare resident, who was represented by Brighton Sadowero, Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Kelvin Kabaya of ZLHR, filed an application at the High Court on 28 May 2024, seeking an order to declare section 8(1) of the Immigration Act to be inconsistent with the Constitution as it authorised an immigration officer to detain a suspect for a period not exceeding 14 days without judicial oversight and hence offending section 50(2) of the Constitution, which makes it mandatory for any arrested or detained person to be brought to court within 48 hours.

The High Court Judge agreed with Chakabva’s submissions that under regional and international conventions ratified by Zimbabwe, arbitrary detentions are impermissible and ruled that section 8(1) of the Immigration Act is in violation of both international and regional conventions as these conventions underscore that a detained person must promptly be brought before a court for the determination of the legality of the arrest and detention.

Justice Dube-Banda also ruled that the right of a person, who is considered to be a suspect, to appear in court within 48 hours being a right to a fair trial, cannot be limited as this right allows for the pre-trial processes to be brought into the open and for rights to be vindicated.

Justice Dube-Banda’s court order declaring section 8(1) of the Immigration Act to be inconsistent with section 50(2)(b) of the Constitution and invalid, now awaits to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

Zwnews