Judicial Laws Amendment (Ease of Settling Commercial and Other Disputes) Act, 2017 (No. 7 of 2017)

. 2017 J UDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLI NG COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) ZIMBABWE ACT To amend the High Court Act [Chapter 7:061, the Magistrates Court Act [Chapter 7:10]; and the Small Claims Court Act [Chapter 7: 12]; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto ENACTED by the Parliament and the President of Zimbabwe. PART I PRELIMINARY 1 Short title and interpretation (I ) This Act may be cited as the Judicial Laws Amendment (Ease of Settling Commercial and Other Disputes) Act, 2017. (2) Any reference to the " principal Act" in (a) Part II of this Act is a reference to the High Court Act f Chapter 7:06]; (b) Part III of this Act is a reference to the Magistrates Court Act [Chapter 7:10]; (c) Part IV of this Act is a reference to the Small Claims Courts Act !Chapter 7: 121. 127 No. 7 No. 7 JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) PART II AMENDMENTS TO HIGH COURT A CT [ CHAPTER 7:06] 2 New section inserted in Cap. 7:06 The principal Acl is amended by the insertion in Part IX ("General") after section 46 of the following section "46A Specialised divisions of High Court (I) Whenever, after consultation with the Judge President, it appears to the Chief Justice that, in the interests of expediting j ustice delivery or promoting the ease of access to justice or for any other reason, it is appropriate to create a specialised division of the High Court in accordance with section 171 (3) of the Constitution, then the Chief Justice shall , by notice in the Gazette (a) specify the name of thedivision of the High Court concerned; and (b) define or give a statement of the scope or nature of the division 's subject-matter jurisdiction; and (c) if necessary or expedient, specify the places and t imes at which judges of the division shall si t. (2) Specialised divisions of the High Court may be created to specialise in the adjudication of cases in the field of commercial law, fami ly law, mining law, electoral law, revenue law, the law of deceased and insolvent estates or any other specialised field of law. (3) The Judge President shall assign at least two judges of the High Court (on a rotational basis with other judges of the High Court or on such other basis as the Judge President may arrange with the judges in question) to be judges of a specialised division of the High Court for such period as the Judge President shall specify. ( 4) Whenever the Registrar of the High Court issues out summons in any matter falling within the jurisdiction of a specialised division of a High Court, the Regi strar shall set the matter down for determinati on by a judge in the di vision concerned. (5) Rules of court may make different or special provision for any speciali sed di vision of a High Court, but until such provision is made the rules of court applicable to the High Court generally shall apply to all such divisions.". 3 Amendment of section 47 of Cap 7:06 Section 47 ("Sittings of High Court") of the principal A ct is amended by the insertion of the following subsection, and the existing section becoming subsection (1) "(2) Subject to subsection (3), rules of court may provide for the sittings of the High Court and of the judges of the High Court, whether sitting in court or in chambers, to be conducted by the use of any electronic or other means of 128 2017 2017 JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) communication by which all the parties to the proceedings at the sitting can hear and be heard at the same time without being physically present together (hereinafter referred to as "virtual sittings"): Provided that the parties concerned must consent to their proceedings being conducted by way of a virtual sitting. (3) Rules of court for virtual sittings apply only to civil proceedings and not to criminal proceedings, except in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as may be specified by or under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act !Chapter 9:07]. (4) A party who participates in a virtual sitting for which provision is made under the rules is taken for all purposes to have been present at the sitting.". 4 Amendment of section 56 of Cap 7:06 Section 56 ("Rules of Court") of the principal Act is amended (a) in subsection (1) by the insertion after "High Court" of the words ", or of any specialised division of the High Court,"; (b) in subsection (2) by the repeal of paragraph (cc) and the substitution of the following paragraphs 5 Savings "(cc) the service of process by electronic means; (dd) the authentication of documents by electronic means, whether executed inside or outside Zimbabwe; (ee) the digitisation of the records filed or lodged with the Registrar and the conditions of access thereto or for the copying thereof for the purpose of any judicial proceedings; (ff) generally, any matter in respect of which, in the opinion of the Chief Justice and the Judge President, it is necessary or desirable to make provision in order to ensure or facilitate the proper dispatch and conduct of the business of the High Court and, in relation to criminal cases, for carrying the criminal law, practice and procedure into effect.". For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that the following are specialised divisions of the High Court for the purpose of section 171(3) of the Constitution (a) the Electoral Court constituted in terms of Part XXII of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]; and (b) the Fiscal Appeal Court constituted in terms of Part II of the Fiscal Appeal Court Act f Chapter 23:05]; and ( c) the Special Court for Income Tax Appeals constituted in terms of section 64 of the Income Tax Act f Chapter 26:06]; and ( d) the Intellectual Property Tribunal constituted in terms of the Intellectual Property Tribunal Act I Chapter 26:08]; and (e) the criminal ,civil and family law divisions of the High Court established before the commencement of this Act. 129 No.7 No.7 JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER O1SPlffES) PART III AMENDMENTS TO MAGISTRATES COURT ACT [CHAPTER 7: I 01 6 Amendment of section 2 of Cap. 7:10 Section 2 ("Interpretation") of the principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following definitions ""business" includes a trade, profession, vocation, occupation and venture, and an isolated transaction of a business character, but does not include employment; "commercial court" means a magistrates court before which a commercial dispute is brought; " commercial dispute" means a dispute of a civil nature ari sing out of a transaction in the course of business, including but not limited to (a) the formation, management, transfer or dissolution of a business enti ty; (b) the contractual relationship of a business entity with another such entity or with another person or persons undertaken in the course of business; (c) the contractual or delictual liabi l ity of a business or of a person engaged in a business that arises in the course of business activities; (d) disputes primarily involving banking and financial services; (e) the restructuring or payment of business debts; (f) the enforcement of an arbi tral award of a business character;" . 7 Amendment of section 11 of Cap. 7:1 0 Section 11 ("Jurisdiction in civi l cases") the principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsecti on (2) "(2a) For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that eveiy court (which, for this purpose, is called a "commercial court") has juri sdiction in the first instance to adjudicate a commercial dispute if the amount at stake in such dispute is within the limit prescribed under subsection (2)(b) , and (a) the commercial dispute arose wholl y within the province; or (b) either or both of the parties to the commercial dispute reside, carry on business or are employed within the same province; or (c) either or both of the parties to the commercial dispute are entities that conduct any business in the same province, whether the entities in question are companies, co-operati ves, partnerships, syndicates, trusts or any other kind of entities; or (d) the commercial dispute is between an individual and a company, co-operative, partnership, syndicate, trust or other entity, and both parties reside, carry on business, are employed or conduct business (as the case may be) in the same province.". 130 2017 2017 JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) 8 New section inserted in Cap. 7:06 The principal Act is amended by the insertion in Part II ("Civil") after section 44 of the following section "44A Electronic sittings of court ( 1) Rules may provide for the sittings ofacourtand ofa magistrate, whether sitting in court or in chambers, to be conducted by the use of any electronic or other means of communication by which all the parties to the proceedings at the sitting can hear and be heard at the same time without being physically present together (hereinafter referred to as "virtual sittings"): Provided that the parties concerned must consent to their proceedings being conducted by way of a virtual sitting. (2)A party who participates in a virtual sitting for which provision is made under the rules is taken for all purposes to have been present at the sitting.". 9 Amendment of section 73 of Cap 7:06 Section 73 ("Rules of court") of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of paragraph (w) and the substitution of the following paragraphs "(w) the service of process by electronic means; (x) the authentication of documents by electronic means, whether executed inside or outside Zimbabwe; (y) the digitisation of the records filed or lodged with a clerk of any court (whether on a centralised basis for all courts or on a decentralised basis by province or region) and the conditions of access thereto or for the copying thereof for the purpose of any judicial proceedings; (z) anything which, in terms of this Act or any other enactment, is required or permitted to be prescribed in such rules.". PART III AMENDMENTS TO SMALL CLAIMS COURTS ACT [CHAPTER 7: 12] 1 O New section substituted for section 3 of Cap. 7:12 Section 3 of the principal Act is repealed and the following is substituted "3 Establishment and designation of small claims courts ( 1) For the purpose of this Act (a) every magistrates court shall, within its area of jurisdiction, be a small claims court; and (b) the Minister may, by statutory instrument, establish a small claims court for any province. ' (2) Where the Minister has established a small claims court in terms of subsection ( I )(b), he or she shall, by statutory instrument,specify 131 No.7 2017 JUDICIAL L AWS A MENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPlffES) pl aces within the province concerned where the small claims court may sit." . 11 New section substituted for section 6 of Cap 7:12 Secti on 6 of the principal Act is repealed and the following is substituted ­ "6 Parties who may appear (I) Any natural or j uristic person may insti tute proceedings in a small claims court. (2) A party to any proceedings in a small cl aims court may appear in person or be represented or assisted by (a) a legal practiti oner: Prov ided that the legal practitioner shall not recover any costs as between legal practitioner and cl ient exceeding the amount of the costs (i) which the legal practitioner would have recovered had he or she instituted the proceedings in a magistrates court; or (ii) prescribed by any tariff made in rules under section 31 ; whichever is the lower tariff; or (b) in the case of a minor or other person under a legal disabil i ty, his or her guardian or legal representative; or (c) in the case of a corporate body or association of persons, a director, member or employee of that body or association.". 12 Amendment of section 22 of Cap 7:12 Secti on 22 ("Instituti on of acti ons") of the principal A ct is amended ( a) in subsection (I) by the deletion of "fourteen days" and the substi tu tion of "seven days"; (b) in subsection (2) by the deletion of "fourteen days" and the substitution of "seven days"; (c) in subsection (3) by the deletion of "fourteen days" and the substi tution of "seven days". 132 No. 7