JURISDICTION
Top court to hear appeal on Sadc ruling
The tribunal held that the Zimbabwean government’s policy of land reform was unlawful
The Constitutional Court will hear an appeal by the state on Thursday, in which it seeks to overturn a high court ruling that declared former president Jacob Zuma’s participation in the suspension of the operations of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Tribunal "unlawful, irrational and unconstitutional". The Sadc Tribunal was established to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and resolve interstate disputes and those between states and individuals. SA has signed the Sadc treaty and protocols that bind it to the tribunal’s decisions. The tribunal held that the Zimbabwean government’s policy of land reform was unlawful and ordered the Zimbabwean government to protect farms that had not been dispossessed and to pay compensation for farms that had already been dispossessed. The government failed to comply with this order.
In response, the Sadc summit in 2010 discussed Zimbabwe’s noncompliance and decided to suspend the operation of the tribunal — a...
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