Brian Choba and Justice Chiutsi v Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and Commissioner General of Police N.O.

HH 15-24

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Case Details

Court

Harare High Court

Date

10 January 2024

Citation

HH 15-24

Neutral Citation

[2024] ZWHH 15

Outcome

unknown

Case Type

Application

Bench

Presiding

MUSITHU J

Full Bench

MUSITHU J

Areas of Law

Constitutional lawAdministrative lawCivil procedure

Keywords

Section 70 Police ActConstitutionalityPrescription periodAccess to courtsEquality before the law

Key Issues

{"issue_text":"Whether section 70 of the Police Act is unconstitutional for violating the right to equality before the law and access to courts","issue_type":"constitutional","dispositive":"no","related_facts":"8-month prescription period vs 3-year general prescription period"}
{"issue_text":"Whether the High Court has jurisdiction to determine constitutional validity of section 70 via standalone application","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Constitutional issue arose in context of non-constitutional litigation"}

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Facts of the Case

Background

The applicants, who were shot by police officers on 22 February 2018, instituted civil claims against the police. The respondents raised prescription as a defence under section 70 of the Police Act, which requires civil proceedings to be instituted within 8 months. The applicants then launched this application seeking a declaration that section 70 is unconstitutional.

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