Zimbabwean Legal System
Background:
Zimbabwe's legal system is a plural system that combines the Roman Dutch Law and English Law imported from the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope on 10 June 1891 with the customary law of the indigenous peoples of Zimbabwe. Customary Law is mainly applied in matters involving personal law; however, both customary law and the imported received law have been considerably revised by statutory provisions promulgated by the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Received law and statute law make up what is termed general law. All law, including customary law and legislation is subject to compliance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, although customary law is exempt from provisions mandating non-discrimination in § 23 of the Constitution regarding the application of personal law.
Legislation:
The principal legal instrument of Zimbabwe is the Constitution to which all other laws are subordinate and must be consistent.
Acts of Parliament are the enabling instruments for all legislative interventions. Regulations flesh out the operational substance of Acts of Parliament. Regulations are subject to the scrutiny and approval of the Parliamentary Legal Committee § 40A and B of the Constitution as are all bills that are tabled. The primary function of the Parliamentary Legal Committee is to determine and recommend on the constitutionality of all legislation.
Courts:
While Zimbabwe has a unified systems of courts, customary law and some limited elements of general law are applied by Local Courts (called "chiefs' courts") by terms of § 15 of the Customary Law and Local Courts Act (Chapter 7:05). The jurisdiction of these chiefs' courts is predominantly restricted to issues of personal law.
Magistrates Courts administer both customary law and general law pursuant to the Magistrates Court Act (Chapter 7:10). Criminal and civil matters are heard by Magistrates Courts but they have limited jurisdiction in both areas.
The High Court has inherent jurisdiction in all matters, regardless of whether customary law or general law applies according to the High Court Act (Chapter 7:06). In practice, High Courts only hear matters of significant substance based on monetary and issue-related criteria.
The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal but it also has original jurisdiction in constitutional matters as authorized by the Supreme Court Act (Chapter: 7:13) and the Constitution of Zimbabwe. In addition to the above-mentioned courts, there are specialist courts with appropriately limited jurisdiction – such as the Labour Court and the Administrative Court. See respectively Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) Part XI and Administrative Court Act (Chapter 7:1).
For more on the Zimbabwean Legal System please see:
http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Zimbabwe.htm
(Not official but fairly accurate and neutral)