The reason the Pakistani situation caught my interest, and why I thought it was right to cover it to some extent in this blawg, was not just the central importance in that crisis of the Supreme Court, but also the inspiring role of Pakistani lawyers, who have emerged as an important power in the land capable of opposing the military and standing up for the rule of law and democratic constitutionalism. In other countries and at other times we’ve seen journalists, trade unionists and churches take similar stands. I don’t say lawyers are more important than them, or should be seen as in the lead, but I do say that wherever democracy and the rule of law are threatened, lawyers especially have a responsibility to take a stand – the Pakistani example has been an important one. We should all take this duty as seriously as doctors take their Hippocratic oath.
So now, Zimbabwe. I’m afraid there’s unlikely to be a Zimbabwean equivalent of the pakistani Chief Justice Chaudhry: the judiciary has long been a target of Mugabe, with independent judges being forced out and others subjected to pressure. This website goes so far as to call Muagbe’s judicial appointees
bootlickers of the Mugabe regime.
But there are other impressive figures like Beatrice Mtetwa, who’s now President of the Zimbabwe Law Society. Lawyers went on strike as recently as December, so they’re clearly prepared to take action. I doubt Ms. Mtetwa needs any urging from me, but it’d be terrific if Zimbabwe’s lawyers could emulate Pakistan’s. I hope they do.
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