SOME 1 000 convicted criminals, who appealed separately at
the High Court as far back as 2010, but abandoned the appeals after being
granted bail, had their challenges thrown out recently when the judiciary
embarked on a rigorous audit to cleanse the system of idle files.
To that end, hundreds of warrants of arrest have since been
issued out against the convicts who have pending jail sentences to ensure their
committal to prison. Police, armed with the warrants, are now hunting down the
criminals.
Scores of the convicts are walking scot-free as the police
struggle to serve them with the warrants and take them to court.
The Registrar of the High Court, Mr Donald Ndirowei, in
terms of the rules of that court, dismissed the idle criminal appeals between
May and July this year in an ongoing files audit.
Most of the criminals in question were convicted of theft,
robbery, fraud and traffic offences.
According to official statistics seen by The Herald, at
least 371 convicts were from Harare province, while 130 and 74 are from
Mashonaland West and Masvingo respectively.
The statistics also show that 147 convicts were from
Mashonaland Central, 80 from Mashonaland East and 63 from Manicaland.
Mr Ndirowei directed the magistracy to issue out warrants
of arrest in respect of those who have pending prison terms.
Chances are high that some of the convicts have since died,
while others could have skipped the borders.
Most of them filed “frivolous” notices of appeal for the
purposes of seeking bail, but they abandoned the challenges after tasting
freedom.
Some did not pay the relevant fees for the processing of
the appeals, while others breached the rules of the High Court on criminal
appeals, prompting the court to throw away the challenges.
Others did not bother to inspect the trial records as
provided for in the rules.
The appeals were buried among several pending files until
the High Court recently embarked on a rigorous audit of all pending appeals and
dismissing those deemed abandoned.
Warrants of arrest were issued in respect of the first
batch of 489 convicts in May and the documents were dispatched to the
respective police stations countrywide.
The first batch consisted 489 appeals filed in 2010.
The second batch of convicts was issued with warrants of
arrest a week later and it comprised of 185.
Some 280 appeals filed in 2012 were dismissed last week by
the High Court before warrants of arrest were issued in respect of the
convicts.
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) acting secretary Mr
Walter Chikwana confirmed the development, saying an audit of both criminal and
civil files was underway at the High Court to deal with abandoned appeals.
“We are carrying out an audit of all appeal files at the
High Court,” he said. “Notices of appeal were filed, but not prosecuted. We
have recovered quite a number of records which have been lying idle and were
not prosecuted.
“After filing an appeal, one would also file for bail
pending appeal. After getting their freedom, they would then abandon those
appeals.”
Some appellants failed to prepare records or pay the
required fees.
Appellants are required to ensure the record of proceedings
is prepared and submitted to the High Court within certain specified periods.
They are also required to pay costs for preparation of the
record and some would not pay.
“So, what we are simply doing is to enforce the rules of
the High Court,” said Mr Chikwana. “When you don’t arrange for the preparation
of the record or pay for the preparation of the record, there are certain
consequences that would follow, for example, the appeal may be deemed abandoned.
The moment the appeal is deemed abandoned it means there is no longer an appeal
before the High Court.”
In terms of the criminal appeal process, the onus to
prosecute the appeal lies with the appellant, who can choose to drag or abandon
the appeal.
At times, the appellants deliberately change lawyers to
confuse the system, resulting in some correspondences from the Registrar of the
High Court being sent to wrong addresses.
The Registrar of the High Court in terms of the rules of
that court, is now empowered to dismiss appeals for want of prosecution.
Other appeals are dismissed by the judges in court. hERALD
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