THE Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) is inviting members of the public to nominate suitably qualified persons to be appointed as Constitutional Court judges.
The Constitutional and Supreme Courts were recently separated with each court having its own judges.
The Constitutional Court must have seven judges, including the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice and there are five vacant positions.
The separation of the courts entailed that the Constitutional Court would now consist of the Chief Justice, his deputy and five other judges, in line with the dictates of the supreme law of the country.
Before the separation, the Supreme Court was made up of the Chief Justice, his deputy and 13 other judges, who doubled as Constitutional Court judges.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba has since appointed acting judges —Justices Paddington Garwe, Rita Makarau, Annie-Mary Gowora, Ben Hlatshwayo and Bharat Patel — to sit on the constitutional bench pending substantive appointments of permanent judges for the court.
The five join the Chief Justice and his deputy Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza on the ConCourt bench.
In a statement yesterday, JSC said it was inviting members of the public to nominate suitably qualified persons to fill the five positions at the Constitutional Court in terms of section180 (4) (b) of the Constitution.
In terms of section 177 of the Constitution, a person qualified for appointment as a judge of the ConCourt if he or she is a Zimbabwean, is at least 40 years old, has sound knowledge of constitutional law among others.
“Members of the public intending to nominate candidates can obtain nomination forms from the office of the JSC Secretary, 2nd Floor, Causeway Building in Harare or the office of provincial magistrates in charge of the 10 provinces,” read the statement.
The forms can also be downloaded from the JSC website www.jsc.org.zw <http://www.jsc.org.zw>.
“All completed nomination forms, with the nominees’ curriculum vitae attached, must be submitted to the office of the JSC Secretary or provincial magistrates in charge of provinces by no later than June 30 2020,” adds the statement.
The Supreme Court will now sit in Harare in the old Supreme Court Building on the corner of Third Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue, with all judges having chambers there, while the ConCourt will sit in Mashonganyika Building along Samora Machel Avenue.
