The Justice and Governance focus group is organized into three business areas namely: Constitution, Democracy and Governance Group; Legal and Access to Justice Reform Group and the Prisons and Offender Management Group. The focus group seeks to contribute to democracy, justice and the development of the legal profession in Zimbabwe through, but not limited, to the following:

1. Contribution to the debate in Zimbabwe and abroad on the ongoing constitutional reform and review process and other legal and governance policy reviews,

2. Mobilizing resources to support the legal fraternity in Zimbabwe, including Faculties of Law and other institutions of legal education, the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and other professional associations of lawyers,

3. Participating in seminars, public discussions, lectures in Zimbabwe and in the Diaspora aimed focusing on legal education and governance reform,

4. Active promotion of the involvement of under-represented groups in the development of national democracy and governance policies,

5. Carry out inter-jurisdictional consultations to improve best practice in Zimbabwe’s justice delivery,

6. Give technical and other support to ministries of Justice and of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and make presentations to the same on proposed legal reform,

7. Contribute to development of good policy and practice in the delivery of prison and correctional services with emphasis on protecting the public and reducing reoffending, offender management reforms, youth justice and delivering more effective sentencing and penalties that reflect the needs of local people

The Group Facilitators:

Dr Alex Magaisa
Alex Magaisa is a lawyer and academic, currently a Senior Lecturer at Kent Law School , University of Kent in the UK . He gained his qualifications from the University of Zimbabwe (LLB) and the University of Warwick (LLM & PhD) and has previously taught at the University of Nottingham . Magaisa is also a financial services regulatory consultant, using experience earned from working for a Europe-based financial services regulator. His interests lie mainly in legal matters ranging from constitutional issues to aspects of corporate and financial services laws and how law can play a key role in development. Also a public writer, Magaisa writes a weekly column for a leading Zimbabwean newspaper.

Dewa Mavhinga
Dewa is a law graduate for the University of Zimbabwe who was registered with the High Court of Zimbabwe as a Legal Practitioner in 2002. Dewa also holds a masters degree in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for Essex University, UK. Currently, he works as a consultant on Africa for an international human rights organisation. Dewa has a passion for human rights, democracy and good governance in Africa. Occasionally Dewa writes his reflections on human rights and politics in Zimbabwe.

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