Lawyers push for specialised courts to deal with environmental issues

By Ruvimbo Muchenje

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Executive Director, Bellinda Chinowawa, has called on government to establish specialised courts and relevant training of judicial officers to deal with invasion of wetlands and environment-related matters.

Chinowawa was speaking during the launch of their publication titled “Litigating for Conservation: A ZLHR Case Analysis of Wetland and Vital Water Sources Protection in Zimbabwe,” saying judicial officers need to be trained to deal with matters relating to the environment.

“Another issue that we discussed and we must discuss it more openly on this forum more openly is judicial expertise in ajudicating environmental matters. Environmental disputes involve complex scientific evidence, planning question, regulatory frameworks and competing constitutional rights,

“The quality of environmental justice depends a large part on whether they have the capacity and the expertise to properly engage with these issues. Our judges need specialised training and we may even benefit from having specialised environmental courts to handle cases such as these,” she said.

Chinowawa added that the frameworks to support litigation on environmental crimes are there but are not being fully implemented to deter potential criminals.

“We have seen situations where the legal framework appears strong but the protection and promise does not always materialise on the ground. We have seen the difficulties of getting institutions to act, the delays and procedural obstacles that accompany litigation and the gaps between obtaining a legal remedy and actually securing compliance,” she added.

In 2018, Zimbabwe established anti-corruption courts specially designed to deal with matters of corruption expeditiously and handle asset forfeiture.

Citing this precedent, the lawyers are hoping for a similar arrangement in dealing with environmental issues.

As it stands, members of the public can petition the Minister of Environment to challenge a wetland invasion, but many a time, residents have had to seek the intervention of courts to grant an interdict for a contractor to halt development.

The legal officer who has been heading litigation at ZLHR, Kelvin Kabaya, said the provision to petition the minister has no timeframe, and that means development continues while residents wait for a determination.

“The lack of a time frame within which those applications to Council or to suspend an Environmental Impact Assessment are determined. So section 130 of the Act for instance, allows people to challenge the issuance of EIA certificate. So you file your challenge with the Minister of Environment but unfortunately there is no time frame within which the Minister determines that challenge,” he said.

If the response is not determined as soon as residents expect, they can file a High Court challenge.

However, the slow pace of the wheels of justice could be detrimental to the availability of water for future generations.

“Unless you approach the courts for an interdict pending the determination of the challenge before the minister, whatever project that you are challenging continues on the ground. So there are no inbuilt mechanisms for suspending the implementation of the project unless you approach the court,” he said.