Zimbabwe's Supreme Court defies SADC tribunal

The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe has defied a ruling by the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Tribunal and found in favour of the government of Zimbabwe in a strongly contested land dispute. According to Mike Campbell of the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (Tralac), a company registered in Zimbabwe had applied for an interim measure at the Tribunal to interdict the Zimbabwean government from evicting it and expropriating its land.

At the same time, the matter was also pending in the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. The company argued at the Tribunal that the expropriation of the land would infringe on its property rights. Justice Luis Antonio Mondlane, the president of the SADC Tribunal which is based in Windhoek, Namibia, ruled in favour of the applicant. The Tribunal’s favourable decision is known as an interlocutory relief in municipal law.

Meanwhile in the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean government challenged the interlocutory relief, arguing that Mike Campbell had failed to exhaust local remedies before running to the SADC Tribunal. However Justice Mondlane rejected the local remedies argument pointing out that it was not relevant at the interlocutory juncture in terms of SADC Protocol.

The Zimbabwean government has indicated that it intends proceeding with the seizure of Mike Campbell’s land. “This flies in the face of an undertaking given on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe before the SADC Tribunal and against Zimbabwe’s own international obligations,” Gerhard Erasmus, a senior researcher at Tralac said. “It raises the issue of the effectiveness and enforcement of Tribunal decisions and the relationship between municipal and international law."

Erasmus added that the matter went to the heart of the future role and success of the SADC Tribunal as a regional dispute resolution mechanism. “The region’s history with respect to rules-based structures, dispute resolution and respect for the rule of law is not inspiring. For the development of the region, its integration into the global economy, its attractiveness to investors and its own governance, it is vital that we get this right."
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