The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU)’s Herbert Chitepo Law School has formed a tie-up with Speak out for Animals (Sofa) – a NGO focused on using the law to protect animals – to introduce a law module to equip law students with knowledge of handling wildlife cases in court.
The new module was introduced at the beginning of the 2021 semester.
Sofa’s senior legal counsel Ms Nancy Makuvise said the new module deals with non-humans, humans and the law.
“It is a broad module that links both science and law together, as we will be dealing with non-humans; that is, the animals, then humans and the law, unlike other modules, where its humans and the law. A balance has to be struck between the three.”
Since the introduction of the module, 20 students have registered for the course.
“Other work that we are also doing is case monitoring. This involves following up a case from the moment the offender is arrested and taken to court until the matter is tried. We are there to ensure that proper charges are brought against the accused persons and proper citations are done, and evidence is gathered properly. We offer our legal expertise in the field of wildlife law to the courts up until sentencing is done.
“Also when it comes to bail, we assist the prosecutors and the police to come up with compelling reasons why an accused must be denied bail until the matter is tried.”
Sofa works in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority for the protection and conservation of wildlife.
