ZIMBABWE EZEKIEL GUTI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF LAW

SECTION A
NAME(S): Makuku Kuzivakwashe
REG NO:R220389L
COURSE: INTRODUCTION TO LAW
COURSE CODE: LLB 112

QUESTION TITLE: Assess the importance of an effective legal aid

system in Zimbabwe. (25 marks)

LECTURER: MR MARINGE
DUE DATE: 03 May 2022

SECTION B
LECTURER`S COMMENTS: ………………………………………………………………………

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MARK: ……………………………………………...
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ..................................................................................

Main submission..........................................................................

Conclusion...................................................................................

The legal aid system is important in the Zimbabwean people’s livelihood. It has helped a lot of
people in attaining justice before the law regardless of being privileged or indigent, many are
enjoying the privilege of being equal before the law despite being male or female. Everyone gets
legal representation in courts and every citizen gets to know the law as it is written in the
constitution. With legal aid systems most citizens of Zimbabwe have managed to familiarize
with public education on legal matters. These are also helping in making sure that the rule of law
as it is stated gains respect. However practically, the Legal Aid System is also biased and does
not provide full support to the citizens in the sense that a lawyer can fail when given a lawyer to
represent him or her in a court of judgement the lawyer might not come or miss the appointment.
Also for legal education, legal practitioners might fail to reach rural based people. Moreover
some of the legal aid facilities such as clinics are not functional hence serving no purpose.
The term legal aid system refers to system which are designed to provide legal services to
everyone in the country who cannot afford to pay a lawyer or anyone who cannot afford to pay
for health bills . Madhuku asserts that “Legal aid systems refers to the system of providing legal
services to persons who are unable to afford to pay fees for such services who cannot afford to
pay a lawyer or anyone who cannot afford to pay for health bills1. This gives an insight on the
importance of an effective legal aid system in Zimbabwe that helps Zimbabweans in acquiring
justice.

Legal aid system is helping to make sure that there is equality amongst Zimbabwean citizens.
Legal aid is central in providing access to justice by ensuring that victims enjoy a number of
rights associated with the concept of equality before the law2. Despite being male or female, poor
or rich and superior or weak one can get a lawyer at a reasonable cost. Thus providing every
citizen of Zimbabwe right to equality through the help from legal practitioners in the nation.
Legal practitioners are there to serve equality amongst countrymen because law cannot be law
without it being equal and fair to everyone. The law of Zimbabwe the states that everyone has
the right to fair trial3 thereby illustrating the reason why legal aid must be delivered to all
indigent persons without discrimination. It is therefore mandatory that the state should work
towards ensuring equality amongst everyone and no one is discriminated. More so, with legal
aid, men and women have equal rights to compete for a post or profession as also supported by
the law of Zimbabwe4. However practically, Legal aid system has failed to make sure that there
is equality amongst men and woman as seen in the Magaya v Magaya case whereby it held that
it’s the nature of the African Customary Law that women have no right to inheritance not
because they are minors but because they are women in African society5. Thus there is need for
action so that justice is delivered so as to promote access to justice and equality in line with
promoting an effective legal aid system

Through the aid from legal systems, everyone can access a lawyer so as to get legal
representation. We all deserve to be represented by a legal practitioner before the judge that is
why the legal aid system was put place. Legal representation by lawyers is shown on the Vareta
1
L Madhuku 2010 An Introduction to Law Weaver Press
2
Towards a holistic approach to the legal aid system inZimbabwe 2016 F Chiware Ir.uz.ac.zw
3
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) ACT 2013 section 86(e)
4
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) ACT 2013 section 56 (2)
5
Magaya v Magaya S-210-1998
v Vareta6 who strongly believe that the eldest son is the natural heir of the father’s inheritance
even in a situation where there is an elder daughter. Section 31 of the constitution states that
“The state must take all practical measures, within the limits of the resources available to it, to
provide legal representation in civil and criminal cases for people who need it and are unable to
afford legal practitioners of their choice7. This simply mean to say, if the state does not meet
these requirement then there is no legal aid in the society, if the state does not fund the legal aid
then we don’t have legal aid in the society. Furthermore the issue on legal representation is quite
complicated and controversial as the following question develop:

 How do the Legal Aid Directorate assess that this person should get legal aid?
 How do the Legal Aid Directorate see that this person is indigent?

The law was brought into existence so as to meet and serve the ends of justice. It is one’s right to
be justified by the law. Legal aid is central in providing the access to justice since it ensures that
clients enjoy a number of rights which have to do with the concept of equality such as legal
representation, legal advice and right to fair trial. Justice is defined in the Oxford dictionary as
the state or characteristic of being just or fair.8 Justice is served in the Lopez v Nxumalo9 case
where a woman opened a case against a white Portuguese men who had sexual intercourse with
her African daughter who refused to go before the customary law court because he wanted the
legal practitioners to use general law which applied to both of them unlike the African customary
law which only applied to the girl. His request was taken into consideration and the issue was
solved in a civil court thus serving justice. A majority girl can enter into a legal marriage without
parental consent as illustrated in the Katekwe v Muchabaiwa case thereby serving justice to a girl
child as she can do her own things and live a life without anyone’s consent. However in critic,
there are challenges with the issue of justice attainment as justice is undefined. One can argue
that law is law regardless of it being just on unjust. It is said that there is no law without morality
but its different with justice as law can be just or unjust. This is brought to light on an American
case of Riggs v Palmer10 as the grandchild could no longer inherit his grandfather’s property as

6
Vareta v Vareta SC-126-1990
7
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) ACT 2013 section 31
8
Oxford Dictionary English Dictionary
9
Lopez v Nxumalo SC-115-85
10
115 NY 506, 22 NE 188 (1889)
the court judged which can be unjust because the grandchild was supposed to inherit as per
deceased’s will regardless of what had happened.

The Legal Aid systems are important as they are there to enforce law which protects the interests
of the ruling class. It is according to the Marxist theory that the function and purpose of law is to
protect the interests of the ruling class and since the legal practitioners work under the legislative
board which draws up the law, they are there to serve the interests of their employers which is
the ruling class. The ruling class owns the means of production. Currently the rich are the ones
who are effectively accessing justice since they are the ones who can bring charges in the
proceedings of a court case. However it is not on every case that law is there is serve the interests
of the ruling class as Karl Marx and Fredriech Engels’ theory is over exaggerated. Law is there
to also respect the will of the citizens as citizens also make up the law through the use of
referendum. The legal aid systems also bring to light that they do not serve only the will of the
ruling class and this is shown on the Robert Mugabe resignation when they supported the
citizens in their revolt against the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

Through the help from public practitioners, Citizens of Zimbabwe are able to get exposed to
public education on legal matters. This has been through legal advice by the legal practitioners
and use of street laws.Street Law advances justice through classroom and community education
programs that empower people with the legal and civic knowledge, skills, and confidence to
bring about positive change for themselves and others......... This is by the influence of law
students and lawyers also. People get to know law and live peacefully in a civilized society as
they get to know what the law states. The Criminal law Act11 is there for us to know the dos and
do not and the consequences of committing a certain crime. So with this in mind people know
who to conduct and where to go if they get violated or abused hence there is equality before the
law. There is also the constitution of Zimbabwe which provides the rules and regulations on a
good citizen. However practically the issue of education to the citizens is tricky since Legal Aid
offices are very few in Zimbabwe as we only have two. In Zimbabwe we only have two offices
which are only found in Harare and Bulawayo. Not only is access to legal aid tricky but there is
also little public information dissemination on this subject. As very few people know about the
legal aid system, the majority are unaware that they can initiate steps towards being granted free
11
Criminal law (Codification and reform ) Act
legal assistance12. This is so because most Zimbabweans are rural based and thereby making it
difficult for those destitute to find justice as most victims find it expensivet to move from any
rural area to Harare or Bulawayo for them to get justice on a certain case. More so some Legal
aid clinics are not functional in Zimbabwe for example the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University
legal aid clinic which has not been functional ever since it was officially opened.

In conclusion, the legal Aid System in Zimbabwe has to a larger extent helped the lives of so
many Zimbabweans. This is so because people are now able to find justice in court through
being represented by a Lawyer. Through the education of what the law states by practitioners,
the crime rate has reduced since people are now able to differentiate right from wrong. However
though to a lesser extent legal aid system of Zimbabwe is problematic as it also bring biased
analysis. The constitution states that it takes whatever it has do for one to attain justice as it
provides representation of the suspected criminal which practically is not so. Many have
imprisoned for a crime they did not commit just because they were not represented before the
court.

12
Madhuku L Weaver Press 2010 Harare Page 134