Judge 'Punished' Over Judgement Invalidating Unfair RBZ Directive

Justice Happias Zhou was reportedly blocked from sitting on an international legal panel as punishment over a judgement which invalidated the 2018 conversion of United States dollar balances to RTGS ordered by finance minister Mthuli Ncube.

ZimLive.com reported legal sources saying Justice Zhou was in the running to become one of seven members of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea when his nomination was withdrawn without his knowledge. A source is quoted as having said:

Just a month after his bond note judgement, the government surreptitiously withdrew his candidature. He was never consulted. This is the most blatant attack on judicial independence.

… We criticise judges all the time but never take time to consider their struggles.

The more independent ones take forever to get their vehicles of service. They don’t go on international trips and have their participation in these tribunals blocked.  It’s all about control.

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In May, Justice Zhou ruled that the directive by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on October 1, 2018, converting USD account balances into RTGS “manifestly violate the right to property” and are invalid.

Depositors’ savings were wiped out by the RBZ directive as the value of the RTGS dollar plummeted on the alternative market even as authorities insisted the bond note and electronic dollars would remain officially pegged at 1:1 to the United States dollar.

More: ZimLive.com