By A Correspondent| Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has petitioned the High Court seeking an order to declare some repressive provisions of the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Act as unconstitutional and set them aside as they imprudently criminalise legitimate critical development and human rights work and over-regulate PVOs.

ZLHR, was formed in 1995 by human rights lawyers, with a broad mandate of protecting the Constitution, advancing the cause of constitutionalism and the rule of law and defending victims of human rights abuses and unconstitutional behaviour.

In an application filed at Harare High Court on 16 May 2025,  ZLHR argues that the PVO Amendment Act, which was enacted and published in the Government Gazette on 11 April 2025, constitutes a fundamental encroachment of rights of members of the organisation, which is an independent universitas established by law.

ZLHR, opines that the impugned amendments contained in the PVO Amendment Act constitute unconstitutional over-regulation, over legislation and criminalisation of innocent important charitable, developmental and human rights work.

The provisions of the PVO Amendment Act, ZLHR argues, overreach by violating the freedom of assembly and association guaranteed under section 58(1) of the Constitution, the freedom of expression under section 61 of the Constitution, the right to administrative justice guaranteed under section 68(1) and (2) of the Constitution, the right to a fair hearing under section 69(1), (2) and (3) of the Constitution and section 71 of the Constitution, which provides for property rights. ZLHR further argues that the impugned provisions of the PVO Amendment Act, were vague and badly drafted and contained arbitrary powers and over-regulation of PVOs.

The PVO Amendment Act, ZLHR says, has the effect of concentrating arbitrary powers in the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and the Registrar’s office and contains excessive executive interference in the internal affairs of PVOs. The impugned provisions of the PVO Amendment Act, ZLHR says, have the net effect of effectively allowing the Executive to run PVOs and to deregister those that authorities dislike on very nebulous grounds.

The law-based human rights organisation wants the High Court to grant it an order of constitutional invalidity, declaring section 4, section 5 as read with section 9(5), section 6, section 13A, section 14, and section 21, of the Private Voluntary Organisations Act (as amended by the PVO Amendment Act) to be ultra vires the Constitution and to be set aside.

This order, ZLHR says, would be subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court in terms of the provisions of section 175(1) of the Constitution and that the order of constitutional invalidity issued would be suspended for a period of 12 months from the date of confirmation by the Constitutional Court in order to enable the respondents to amend the impugned legislation so that it complies with the Constitution.