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Alert

Supreme Court rules in favour of journalists, declares section of media law unconstitutional

(MISA/IFEX) - The Supreme Court has passed a landmark judgment against the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) by declaring Section 80 unconstitutional. The full bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favour of "Daily News" reporter Lloyd Mudiwa and the paper's former editor-in-chief, Geoff Nyarota.

The two journalists were arrested on 23 April 2002 after publishing a story reporting that an opposition party supporter had been beheaded by ruling party supporters. The story was later proven to be false and the paper subsequently retracted the story and apologised. However, Mudiwa and Nyarota were arrested and charged under ther AIPPA for allegedly "publishing falsehoods". The two journalists then approached the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Section 80.

The section under scrutiny created what became known as the "false news offence". The applicants contended that it constituted a breach of freedom of expression and protection of the law, as provided for in Sections 18 and 20 of the Constitution.

The state did not oppose the challenge by Mudiwa and Nyarota, nor did it file any arguments when called upon by the Supreme Court registrar to do so. On the day the matter was set down to be heard, the state filed a notice that it was not opposed to what the defence lawyers were saying, in essence admitting that Section 80 was unconstitutional. The state said it was not opposing the application by Mudiwa and Nyarota because Section 80 is already being amended so as to avoid any apparent conflict with constitutional provisions.

The full Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, then made the following order:

i) Section 80(1)(b) as read with section 80(2) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act Chapter 10:027 is hereby declared to be ultra vires Section 20 of the Constitution and is struck down as being of no force and effect.

ii) Respondent bears the costs of the application.

MISA-Zimbabwe hails the ruling as a victory for freedom of expression and the rights of journalists.