Procedures
High Court Rules 2021 with prescription at 3 years and two appellate apexes
The High Court Rules 2021 modernised civil procedure. Prescription runs under the Prescription Act (Chapter 8:11), generally three years. Appeal routing depends on subject matter: constitutional questions to the Constitutional Court, everything else to the Supreme Court.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' courts, the High Court, the Labour and Administrative Courts as specialist divisions, then the Supreme or Constitutional Court.
- Deadline — Most debts prescribe after 3 years
- Deadline — Notice of appeal to the Supreme Court: 15 days from judgment
Governing law
- High Court Rules 2021SI 202 of 2021
- Prescription ActChapter 8:11
- Small Claims Courts ActChapter 7:12
In practice
Getting the appellate route right is a live risk in Zimbabwean practice: an appeal on a constitutional point taken to the Supreme Court, or a non-constitutional appeal taken to the Constitutional Court, will be struck out for want of jurisdiction rather than transferred.