The applicant, Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo, was arrested by the first respondent, a police officer on secondment to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), following a warned and cautioned statement alleging he had committed offences of abuse of office, fraud, corrupt concealment from a principal of personal interests in a transaction, and obstruction of justice. On 2 November 2016, the applicant attended an interview at ZACC offices with his lawyer. After a lengthy interview, he was handed over to the first respondent who read a warned and cautioned statement and arrested him. The applicant was released into his legal practitioner's custody on an undertaking to appear before the Magistrate's Court on 4 November 2016. Instead of appearing before the Magistrate's Court to challenge the lawfulness of his arrest as provided under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, the applicant filed an urgent application directly to the Constitutional Court on 3 November 2016, alleging that his arrest violated his constitutional right to personal liberty.
The application was dismissed with no order as to costs.
A matter does not constitute a "constitutional matter" within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court merely because it involves an allegation of infringement of constitutional rights where: (1) legislation has been enacted to give effect to those constitutional rights; (2) the determination of the issue requires interpretation and application of specific statutory provisions rather than the Constitution itself; and (3) the validity or efficacy of the legislation is not challenged. The principle of subsidiarity requires litigants to rely on legislation enacted to protect constitutional rights and not to rely on the underlying constitutional provisions directly, unless they seek to challenge the constitutional validity or efficacy of the legislation itself. Where a material dispute of fact exists that requires oral evidence to resolve, and a lower court has jurisdiction to hear such evidence and determine the matter, the Constitutional Court will not assume jurisdiction. The lawfulness of an arrest is determined by compliance with statutory requirements under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, and challenges to the lawfulness of arrest must first be brought before the Magistrate's Court as provided in section 41A(6)(b) of that Act.
The Court made several non-binding observations: (1) Police officers on secondment to ZACC under the Police (Transfer and Secondment) Regulations do not cease to hold office as police officers and retain their powers as members of the Police Force, including powers of arrest under section 24 of the Police Act. (2) The principle of subsidiarity performs a "gate-keeping function" to prevent precipitating full-dress adjudication of constitutional issues when the Legislature has given effect to a constitutional right through specific legislation. (3) The Constitutional Court should not decide on an ad hoc basis whether to exercise jurisdiction, as this would create uncertainty and open the court to criticism of handpicking cases. (4) The purpose of an application for relief based on alleged infringement of constitutional rights should be vindication of the right, not avoidance of other legal processes. (5) The fact that a prosecutor intends to indict an applicant when they appear before a Magistrate's Court does not constitute exceptional circumstances justifying bypassing the lower court. (6) Under Zimbabwe's one-system-of-law approach, the Constitution is supreme but not separate from other laws; legislation gives effect to basic constitutional rights in a symbiotic relationship.
This case establishes important precedent on the jurisdictional limits of the Constitutional Court in Zimbabwe and the application of the subsidiarity principle. It clarifies that the Constitutional Court will not assume jurisdiction over matters that, while potentially involving constitutional rights, are properly addressed through specific legislation giving effect to those rights. The case reinforces the integrated nature of Zimbabwe's legal system and prevents forum shopping by litigants seeking to bypass lower courts with proper jurisdiction. It emphasizes that a constitutional matter only arises when there is an alleged infringement of a constitutional provision that cannot be adequately addressed through existing legislation, or when the validity or efficacy of such legislation is challenged. The judgment provides important guidance on what constitutes a "constitutional matter" under section 167 of the Constitution and reinforces the hierarchical structure of the court system. It also clarifies that police officers on secondment to ZACC retain their powers as police officers, including powers of arrest.