Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. United Kingdom-based law lecturer, Alex Tawanda Magaisa has said things might get a little messy if former Chief Justice Luke Malaba appeals his ouster at either the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.
Magaisa explains that all the judges who should preside over the case at the Supreme Court and or the Constitutional Court were cited in the proceedings and they would be violating the principle of nemo judex in sua causa if they seat for the appeal.
Nemo judex in sua causa is a Latin phrase that means, literally, no person can judge a case in which he or she is a party or in which he/she has an interest. It is a principle of natural justice. Magaisa said:
All the judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court are cited in these proceedings, which means they have a direct role and interest in the case. The implication is that all the judges who must constitute a hearing panel either at the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court are conflicted: they cannot sit in judgment of a case in which they are parties.
