In Zimbabwe, the constitution provides a fair trial for everyone involved in a legal case and courts have been set up to provide people with justice. There are many courts functioning in the country at different levels. Each court has a different role to play and has a separate jurisdiction from other courts.
The highest court in the country is the Constitutional court which was introduced by the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Besides this court, there are many at lower levels, thus forming a hierarchy of courts. The following is a detailed description of the Zimbabwe Court hierarchy, which you can read for your own reference.
Constitutional Court
This court is headed by the Chief Justice of the court and holds the maximum power and jurisdiction in the country. It has jurisdiction over alleged violations of fundamental rights which are guaranteed by and in the constitution of Zimbabwe.
The Supreme Court
Next in the hierarchy of courts in the country is the Supreme Court which is basically comprised of the same judges as in the case of the Constitutional court. The main difference is the fact that the constitutional court full bench has a sitting of 9 judges whereas in the case of the Supreme Court, the full bench strength is of 5 judges. The Supreme Court is basically an appellate body for the decisions from the High court and Labor court of the country.
High Court
The next court which falls under the Supreme Court is the High Court of Zimbabwe. This court has general and appellate divisions across the country. The head of the courtroom in High Court is the Chief Justice who is appointed by the President recommended by the Judicial Service Commission. There is no restriction on the number of courtroom judges that are appointed at a time.
Magistrate District Courts
Every district in the country has a regional Magistrate District court which comes at the 4th level of hierarchy in the Zimbabwe Court hierarchy. The regional magistrates have jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. Separate African courts were set before independence of the country to handle cases with traditional and customary law related issues.
Community Courts
Next in line are the community courts which handle cases related to different communities related within one area or district.
Village Courts
The lowest level courts are the village courts which handle petty issues of the village. There are many village courts in the country and sometimes, a group of villages may have a single court to hear appeals.
This is the structure of Zimbabwe Court Hierarchy. Also, know about Zimbabwe Political Hierarchy.