{"id":104029,"date":"2025-02-06T23:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T21:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders"},"modified":"2025-02-15T20:15:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T18:15:06","slug":"constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional Court Strikes Down By-Laws Allowing Demolitions Without Court Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>The Constitutional Court has declared certain provisions of the Regional, Town, and Country Planning Act unconstitutional, which had been used by local authorities to justify demolitions of residents\u2019 properties without following due process.<\/p>\n

The ruling upheld a 2024 High Court decision in a case brought by the Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) in 2020, challenging by-laws that allowed demolitions without a court order, in violation of constitutional requirements.<\/p>\n

The ConCourt ruled that demolishing residents\u2019 homes violates fundamental rights under section 74 of the Constitution, regardless of the legality of the structures involved.<\/p>\n

CHITREST was represented by Advocate Tererai Mafukidze, instructed by Tinashe Chinopfukutwa, Kelvin Kabaya, and Paida Saurombe of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Constitutional Court has declared certain provisions of the Regional, Town, and Country Planning Act unconstitutional, which had been used by local authorities to justify demolitions of residents\u2019 properties without following due process. The ruling upheld a 2024 High Court decision in a case brought by the Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":104028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[5090,19],"class_list":["post-104029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-chitrest","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nConstitutional Court Strikes Down By-Laws Allowing Demolitions Without Court Orders - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Constitutional Court has declared certain provisions of the Regional, Town, and Country Planning Act unconstitutiona ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Constitutional Court Strikes Down By-Laws Allowing Demolitions Without Court Orders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Constitutional Court has declared certain provisions of the Regional, Town, and Country Planning Act unconstitutiona ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-06T21:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-15T18:15:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/02\/sm_1738870523.229501.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Constitutional Court Strikes Down By-Laws Allowing Demolitions Without Court Orders\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-06T21:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-15T18:15:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\"},\"wordCount\":133,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/02\/sm_1738870523.229501.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chitrest\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/constitutional-court-strikes-down-by-laws-allowing-demolitions-without-court-orders\",\"name\":\"Constitutional Court Strikes Down By-Laws Allowing Demolitions Without Court Orders - 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