Brighton Chiseva
Supreme Court Judge Justice Paddington Garwe has lamented shortage of office space and Judges at Masvingo High Court saying the two matters needed urgent attention.
Justice Garwe was officiating at the official opening of the 2022 legal year at the Masvingo High Court on January 10.
He said the court building was small and the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) was aware hence the need to follow up so that the matter gets attended to.
“I am aware that Masvingo High Court building is small and there is a serious shortage of office space. At some stage there will be need for the expansion of the court premises so that the court can fully discharge its mandate.
“This is a matter I believe the JSC is fully aware of but, out of abundance of caution, I will also ensure that the extent of the problem is once again brought to the attention of the commission so that the matter can get some priority,” said Justice Garwe.
He went on to say the High Court also had a shortage of judges and is being manned by only two judges with the third one having been transferred to Harare.
“An unfortunate development is that one of the three judges who were manning the Masvingo High Court has now been transferred to Harare. This, sadly, means considerable pressure on the two remaining judges who must continue to deal with all the civil and criminal cases, as well as criminal reviews. One hopes that the situation will be addressed shortly so that the court can continue to operate normally,” said JusticeGarwe.
He said it was his hope that the shortage of one judge will not lead to the increase in number of outstanding cases.
“The judges have been working hard and I hope that the temporary loss of one judge will not see a rise in outstanding cases in the High Court,” he said.
