STAFF REPORTER
Chief Justice Luke Malaba has postponed trials and non-urgent hearings and cancelled weddings at the country’s courts as the judiciary moves to combat the spread of coronavirus.
In a notice Monday, Malaba said: “Trials and non-urgent hearings must be postponed for a period of not less than two months except urgent matters, bail applications, and initial remand.”
He said those that had booked for weddings “may approach the courts for re-booking after a period of two months”.
Malaba banned hearings in chambers and said that in cases where they are held, be “confined to parties involved in the case and their legal representatives.
He said members of the Judicial Service Commission at courts, legal practitioners and litigants attending court sessions will be required to be sanitised at the court entrance when going in and outside the court. They are also required to maintain a distance of at least two metres from the next person when attending court or registry.
Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, began in the Chinese province of Hubei in December. The pandemic has spread globally with President Emmerson Mnangagwa declaring COVID-19 as state of national disaster.
Out of the three confirmed cases, Zimbabwe has recorded one death in television personality Zororo Makamba who passed on Monday.
