New rules to speed up commercial disputes

As part of broader plans to make Zimbabwe more attractive to investors, the committee appointed to relook at commercial laws, has crafted a new set of rules for the Commercial Court, which have been handed to Chief Justice Luke Malaba. The Herald says in terms of the draft rules, commercial disputes must be resolved within 10 months. The establishment of the Commercial Courts falls under the thematic working group on 'Enforcing Contracts and Resolving Insolvency', chaired by Judicial Service Commission deputy secretary Sithembinkosi Msipa. The group was tasked with working on the Small Claims Court Act, Commercial Court Act, High Court Act, Insolvency Act, Estate Administrators Act and the Banking Act to ensure speedy resolution of commercial disputes and protection of investors' interests. Another objective of the group was improving the time and cost efficiency of contract enforcements by 75% and 10%, respectively. Reforms are being done under the World Bank-supported Ease of Doing Business programme with a view to turning Zimbabwe into an upper-middle income economy by 2030.