Zimbabwe

The applicants sought a declaration that section 24 of the Public Order and Security Act (the Act) contravened sections 20 and 21 of the Constitution that provide for the freedoms of expression, assembly and association.

Section 24 of the Act provides that the organiser of a public gathering is required to issue a well written notice, four days before an intended gathering, to the regulating authority for the area in which the meeting is to be held, and that if he fails to do so, he commits an offence.

The applicants, the Movement for Democratic Change, sought an order to set aside the decision by the 1st respondent, the officer commanding Bulawayo Central District Police, that sanctioned their demonstration. The applicants notified the 1st respondent of their intention to conduct a peaceful demonstration, but the 1st respondent had refused their application on three grounds:

This application sought a provisional order to interdict the police from unlawfully interfering with their constitutional right to freedom of assembly, freedom from violence and freedom to demonstrate peacefully. The applicants argued that the actions of the police were unlawful and constituted a threat to applicants’ rights and fundamental freedoms, and contempt of the Constitution.