Topic: Rights of Accused
Country: Zimbabwe
Delegate Name: Evelyn Pae
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Zimbabwe position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
In Zimbabwe, the 2013 national Constitution specifically protects the rights of accused persons within the country. Individuals accused of a crime have the right to know what they have been charged with and to be represented by a legal practitioner. The rights of accused persons as they have been outlined in the national Constitution align with international rights of the accused as defined by the Rights of the Suspect and Accused of the United Nations. Section 326 of the national Constitution of Zimbabwe states that international law does apply to Zimbabwe to the extent that it correlates with existing Zimbabwean law. However, international law does not apply to Zimbabwe in the event that the international policy conflicts with Zimbabwe's own laws. Zimbabwe must preserve its own laws and policies because of the great corruption that exists throughout the world, especially Western countries with overexaggerated power in the international system today. States' rights to make their own laws as they seem fit, and not to allow other countries with questionable intentions to direct and control our legal process, must be placed at a higher importance than international law. However, Zimbabwe does take into consideration international law and many of our policies correspond with international law. We obviously have a fair system for granting rights to those accused of crimes which we are working on in order to improve and promote human rights, which is a major concern for us. Although there have been complaints from other countries that violations of our laws have happened in our country, we are always working to create a fairer system and are making this a priority.
