Systemic Barriers and Unfairness: Access to Justice in Zimbabwe and Beyond

Citizens in plural legal and cultural former colonies like Zimbabwe do not have effective access to justice. This is because the formal justice system is marred with obstacles that either prevent people from entering and navigating the system or impede them from obtaining outcomes that are aligned with their normative conceptions of justice. Post-independence justice reform efforts have failed because they attempt to resolve obstacles in isolation of each other, and the obstacles are almost never analysed as inherent within the formal justice system itself i.e., systemic problem. That every justice system has risks for the intended users is uncontroverted, and this article specifically focuses only on systemic obstacles to access to justice. I demonstrate inherent and unacceptable risk of unfairness in the formal justice system by discussing four examples from the demand and supply sides. The article uses a multi-pronged research approach, involving a comprehensive literature review, media reports and my experience and observations within the Zimbabwean justice system. Furthermore, case law examples are also utilised, but going beyond erroneous individual cases, and unpacking the under-theorised, yet broader social consequences of the cases on citizens and the formal justice system.