A Brief History of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre
By David Coltart
July 1994
The genesis of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre is found in the activities of two Zimbabwe law Students in the 1970s. Ian Donovan in the early 1970s was instrumental in setting up the Legal Aid Clinic at the then University of Rhodesia. David Coltart was Director of the Crossroads Legal Aid Clinic run by the University of Cape Town in the late 1970s. On David Coltart’s return to Zimbabwe from the University of Cape Town in 1983 he set up a legal aid clinic in Bulawayo under the auspices of the Bulawayo Legal Practitioners’ Association. This legal aid clinic was located in offices donated by the Anglo American Corporation in Charter House and was run on a tiny budget using the voluntary services of lawyers in private practice in Bulawayo. At the beginning of 1984 the Ford Foundation organised a conference at the University of Zimbabwe to analyse Zimbabwe’s legal aid needs. Government at the time presented ambitious plans to set up a legal aid system in Zimbabwe but stressed that financial constraints would hinder the setting-up of such a Governmental structure. At the end of that Conference Ian Donovan, the Honourable Mr Justice Enoch Dumbutshena, Professor Reg Austin, Mrs Eileen Sawyer and others resolved to establish the Legal Resources Foundation which was set up in terms of a Trust Deed towards the end of 1984. The first operational arm of the Legal Resources Foundation, the Harare Legal Projects Centre, was established in 1985.
In the early part of 1986 Ian Donovan and David Coltart met to discuss whether the existing Bulawayo Legal Aid Clinic could be re-vamped into a second operational arm of the Legal Resources Foundation, to be known as the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre. After these discussions David Coltart put forward proposals to the Trustees of the Legal Resources Foundation in August 1986 to establish the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre. The United States Human Rights Fund immediately stated that it was prepared to back the project and shortly thereafter a Dutch donor organisation, NOVIB, the British Overseas Development Administration, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the British Council indicated that they would also assist in the initial funding. In terms of the original proposals Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre was to establish legal advice centres throughout Matabeleland and it would also conduct lectures and seminars for law enforcement agencies in Matabeleland. The latter aspect of the proposal was unique to Matabeleland in that the entire region was in the throes of the dissident crisis and serious human rights violations were taking place. It was felt that a series of lectures and seminars were necessary to engender respect for human rights as far as law enforcement agencies were concerned.
David Coltart was appointed Director of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre which was formally opened by the then Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, the Honourable Mr Justice Enoch Dumbutshena on 24th February 1987.
From its inception it was envisaged that the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre would embark on two major programmes on behalf of the Legal Resources Foundation, namely the paralegal programme and the educational programme. It is necessary to relate the history of these two programmes separately.
Paralegal Programme
Because of the absence of a comprehensive system of legal aid in Zimbabwe the majority of Zimbabweans had, and still have, very limited access to the justice system. The vast majority of Zimbabweans cannot afford lawyers in private practice and as a result most of them are unrepresented in court and have pitiful knowledge of their rights. To this day some 95% of people going through our criminal courts are unrepresented. Statistics show that people who are represented by legal practitioners in criminal trials are far more likely to get off with a fine or a suspended sentence than those who are unrepresented. The situation for poor people in rural areas is even worse. In Matabeleland nearly all lawyers and law firms are located in Bulawayo and the legal system is very inaccessible in the rural areas. The paralegal programme is designed to combat these problems as far as possible within the limited financial resources of the Legal Resources Foundation.
After the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre was established in 1987 the legal aid clinic, formerly run under the auspices of the Bulawayo Legal Practitioners Association, continued under the auspices of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre. Lawyers in private practice continued to provide free legal advice during lunch hours during 1987 and to this day some lawyers in private practice still come to the lunchtime legal aid clinics which are conducted at the offices of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre. Towards the end of 1987 Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre employed its first lawyer, Mr Stephens Nkiwane. His job was to recruit and train paralegals who would set up legal advice centres initially in the high density suburbs of Bulawayo. The first paralegal to be trained was Mrs Chipo Nyathi and at the beginning of 1988 the Bulawayo Legal Aid Clinic was converted into the Bulawayo Legal Advice Centre which was run from the offices of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre. In the course of 1988 further paralegals were trained and by 1989 the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre had established further legal advice centres in Luveve, Njube, and Tshabalala suburbs of Bulawayo.
The next step of the plan of action was then implemented: the establishment of the first rural legal advice centres in Zimbabwe. To this end Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre acquired a four-wheel drive vehicle in 1989 and it was decided to open the first rural legal advice centres in the Province of Matabeleland North. Several trips were made into Matabeleland North where discussions were held with Community leaders, civic groups and Government departments. Prospective paralegals were identified and recruited to be trained. In July 1990 the then Deputy speaker of Parliament, Mr Welshman Mabena, officially opened the first rural legal advice centre in Zimbabwe at Lupane. The Lupane Legal Advice Centre was a guinea pig centre and many lessons were learnt by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre regarding the best way to operate rural legal advice centres. Subsequently further legal advice centres were opened in Matabeleland North Province, at Hwange and Binga in the course of 1991.
In 1992 the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre was in a position to expand into Matabeleland South. Further paralegals were trained and in the course of 1992 and 1993 further legal advice centres were opened in Gwanda, Plumtree and Beitbridge. The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre will concentrate on improving the efficiency of the centres before any further expansion takes place. At present the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre operates a total of four urban advice centres in Bulawayo and the six rural legal advice centres. The legal advice centres are manned by some 12 paralegals who have all gone through extensive training courses. The Legal Resources Foundation has employed Mrs Mary Ndlovu, the widow of the late National Hero Edward Ndlovu, a highly qualified adult educator, to devise and conduct training courses for paralegals.
The paralegals are supported by five lawyers who are employed full time by the Legal Projects Centre and its Director, who is still David Coltart.
During the 12 month period ending on 30th June 1994 Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre advice centres dealt with a total of 3367 cases. The advice centres are not legal aid clinics in the sense that they do not take on every case which comes to their attention. Advice is always given and where possible people are assisted in preparing their cases. However, only a few cases are actually taken up and litigated on. These cases are described as public interest or test cases. If a case is likely to be of widespread benefit to the community or will set a new precedent (which promotes human rights in Zimbabwe) the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre will take on the case. During the 12 month period ending in June 1994 the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, for example, processed claims on behalf of 13 victims who suffered in the Deka Drum Bus accident in April 1992. All the claims were successful, with the largest single award being $82 000.00.
The most significant test case conducted by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centres is the recent case of Rattigan, Butler-Rees and Caules v the Chief Immigration Officer and Minister of Home Affairs which was decided upon by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe on 13th June 1994. In this case the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, acting on behalf of three Zimbabwean women, established the right of Zimbabwean women to have their husbands reside with them in Zimbabwe. Prior to the case the law of Zimbabwe was discriminatory in that the wives of Zimbabwean male citizens were allowed to reside in the country whereas the husbands of Zimbabwean female citizens were not. This case outlawed that discriminatory practice and further enshrined the right of families to reside together in Zimbabwe. This case has had wide reaching effects on Zimbabwean society and has been hailed by women’s organisations and the international community as being a triumph for women, the human right community and families in general. The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre is at present in the process of conducting other test cases and is also gathering evidence from victims who suffered during the dissident war which was waged in Matabeleland between 1982 and 1988. Notwithstanding the President of Zimbabwe’s assertion that Government will not pay compensation to victims of this period the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre is determined to assist people in obtaining compensation if needs be through the courts.
Education Programme
From the very inception of the Legal Resources Foundation it was recognised that Zimbabweans had an abysmal knowledge of their rights and the legal system. The provision of legal aid in itself was only part of the answer to the problem. It was recognised that people would have to be educated regarding their rights and obligations if Zimbabwe was to progress and to become a democratic society in which respect for human rights was engendered by all. It was further recognised that there was no point in simply educating the poor regarding their rights; there needed to be corresponding programmes for law enforcement agencies and others involved in the administration of justice to be educated regarding human rights. The Legal Resources Foundation, through its Harare Legal Projects Centre, had initiated several education programmes prior to the setting up of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre.
After the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre was established in 1987 it was felt by its Director, David Coltart, that the most pressing need was a lecture/seminar programme for law enforcement agents in Matabeleland. To this end Barney Greenland, a lawyer, was employed by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre on 1st July 1987. He was tasked with creating a human rights training curriculum for the Police and intelligence services. At the same time approaches were made to the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Justice to obtain permission for the training courses. Initially Government appeared to be reluctant to give its consent to these training courses by eventually at the beginning of 1989 permission was granted for the first courses to be conducted.
In April 1989 the first training course was conducted by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre for members of the Central Intelligence Organisation. Shortly thereafter in July 1989 the first course was conducted for members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Since then the number of courses has escalated and now law enforcement agency training courses are conducted countrywide. Sadly the Central Intelligence Organisation is no longer involved in these courses by an excellent relationship had been developed between the Legal Resources Foundation and the Zimbabwe Republic Police and numerous courses are now run every year. The LEA courses have been hailed by International Human Rights Organisations such as Amnesty International and Africa Watch as being great examples for the rest of the world to follow. When the LEA courses were first started in 1989 in Bulawayo they were the first of their kind in the world. Since then the concept of human rights training for Police officers has been taken up by the Commonwealth Secretariat and similar training courses are being implemented in many Commonwealth countries worldwide.
The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre’s education programme has been expanded over the years to incorporate other national programmes initiated by the parent body, the Legal Resources Foundation. One of the most important programmes in this regard is the Schools Legal Education Programme (SLEP). Between January and March in the last few years the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has organised University of Zimbabwe Law students to conduct a series of lectures throughout Matabeleland in secondary schools. The students travel to schools and lecture pupils on topics such as rape, domestic violence, democracy and civil liberties. This programme has grown to the extent that at the beginning of this year six students were based in Bulawayo and during the eight weeks they ran the programme they visited 29 schools giving 142 sessions.
In a similar vein, the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has run a programme called the Legal Forum over the last few years. The purpose of this programme is to improve the skills of lawyers, Magistrates and Prosecutors involved in the administration of the justice system in Matabeleland. This is in essence a continuing legal education programme. In many countries throughout the world, lawyers are obliged to undergo further legal education after they have qualified. The purpose of this is to update them on changes to the law and legal practice in their respective countries. Continuing legal education has been virtually non-existent in Zimbabwe and as a result legal skills are often not as good as they should be. To redress this problem Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has over the last few years, in conjunction with Judges, Magistrates and Prosecutors, run a series of lectures given by eminent legal practitioners.
International Conferences
In 1993 the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre broke new ground by hosting an alternative sentencing workshop at the Victoria Falls. The sentencing workshop was organised by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre on behalf of the Legal Resources Foundation and in conjunction with the Society for Criminal Law Reform, Southern African Network. The workshop was organised in response to the serious overcrowding in Zimbabwean prisons (and prisons in the region) and to the Zimbabwean Government’s proposals for community service. The workshop attracted experts from throughout the world to discuss alternative methods of sentencing. There were three main themes: Alternative Sentencing, Treatment of Juveniles and the Death Penalty. A direct result of the workshop was the promotion of a series of workshops conducted countrywide to encourage Magistrates, Prosecutors and others involved in the legal system to implement community service programmes.
This year the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, once again on behalf of its parent organisation the Legal Resources Foundation, and together with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and Zimrights, is involved in an even more ambitious project, the Bill of Rights Constitutional Conference at Victoria Falls to be held in December. Given the dramatic changes in Southern Africa in the last few years and the resultant new Constitutions enacted in Namibia and South Africa it was felt that existing African Constitutions, and especially the Bill of Rights contained therein, needed to be reconsidered in the light of far-reaching changes brought about by the Namibian and South African Constitutions. The debate has been further enhanced by the introduction of a new Ghanaian Constitution which has entrenched a very strong Bill of Rights in that country. Many countries in Africa, Zimbabwe included, have what can only be described as “British Colonial Constitutions†with very weak Bills of Rights. As a result fundamental rights in these countries have been ignored and whittled down with the result that democracy has been retarded. The Bills of Rights Conference should be a landmark event which will result in a model Bill of Rights for Africa being produced. Leading lawyers, judges and politicians from throughout Africa will be attending the conference including several members of the new South African Constitutional Court, President Mandela’s personal legal advisor, Ministers of Justice, Chief Justices, Attorney Generals and others from throughout Africa. Sadly the Zimbabwean Government will only be represented by the Secretary for Justice as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General have turned down invitations to attend the conference. The Zimbabwean Judiciary will be well represented by the Chief Justice, other Supreme Court Justices and approximately eight of our High Court Justices. The organisation of both the Sentencing Workshop and the Bill of Rights Conference has been co-ordinated by the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre’s Administrator, Ms Deborah Barron.
Library
When the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre was first mooted in 1986 it was felt that there was a need for a comprehensive and up-to-date law library. Since its opening in 1987 the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre’s library has gradually developed and is now the most up-to-date and comprehensive law library in Bulawayo. A specific focus of library acquisitions has been to support the test case programme. As a result the library now boasts full sets of United States Supreme Court law reports; South African and English law reports; Canadian law reports and reports of other Commonwealth countries. These reports have been used to support legal argument in test cases brought before the Supreme Court. The library is used by Judges, Magistrates, Prosecutors, law students and lawyers in private practice. The library has also contributed to the re-establishment of de facto Advocates’ Chambers in Bulawayo. Advocates’ Chambers folded in Bulawayo towards the end of 1983 and the legal profession has had to rely on the de facto Advocates’ Chambers in Harare. Advocates cannot operate without a comprehensive library at their disposal and the absence of such a library prior to the setting up of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre’s library acted as a deterrent to the re-establishment of Advocates’ Chambers in Bulawayo. A fledging Advocates’ Chambers has now been re-established and it is hoped that it will go from strength to strength. In December 1990 the library was named after Zimbabwe’s first black Chief Justice, the Honourable Dr Enoch Dumbutshena.
From a very small beginning the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has grown into a large and effective organisation which has had a profound impact on the development of democracy in Zimbabwe. It now employs over 20 people full time and in the 12 month period commencing 1st July 1994 it will have a budget of just under Z$2 million. The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre receives all its funding from the Legal Resources Foundation which in turn receives the bulk of its funding from foreign Governments and donor agencies, including CIDA, SIDA, the Ford Foundation, the US Human Rights Fund, Frederick Naumann Foundation, the Frederick Ebert Stiftung, the Nuffield Foundation, the Oak Foundation, United States Embassy and others. The Zimbabwe Government over the years has also contributed to the funding of the Legal Resources Centre.
In the seven years since it was opened the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has achieved a great deal. It has expanded its operations rapidly and has met some of the very real needs of the people in Matabeleland. The centre is now moving into a new phase in which it will consolidate its position in Matabeleland. There is a real need to provide a quality service and the Centre is in the midst of conducting a review of its paralegal programme to determine how it can be more effective. It is also envisaged that the test case programme will be expanded over the next few years and it is hoped that this will have a major impact on Zimbabwean society and will promote respect for human rights. The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre is mindful of the great achievements of its sister organisation, the Legal resources Centre in South Africa, which established an international reputation for itself in promoting human rights in South Africa. The Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre has set similar high goals for itself.