Matters that are not dealt with by the police: Civil matters

IN THE past we have tried to highlight how the Zimbabwe Republic Police has been tackling its roles towards the fulfilment of its constitutional mandate which is that of, among others:

◆ Preventing, detecting and Investigation of crime.

◆ Preserving the internal security of Zimbabwe

◆ Protecting and securing the lives of people and property

◆ Maintaining Law and Order

◆ Upholding the constitution and enforcing the law without fear or favour (Section 219(1) of the Zimbabwe Constitution)

The above constitutes and summarises the work that is done by the ZRP.

Previously, we tackled issues to do with complainants against police. We noted that some of the complaints stem from matters which the public might erroneously feel should have been taken up by the police for investigation. We discuss this week distinctions between cases that can be handled by the police and those which police have little or no control over. That police are a law enforcement agency means we do exactly that i.e. enforce the law.

Distinctions between a Crime

and a Civil Wrong

A crime can be defined as a violation of law for which the state can exact punishment. In other words it is a wrong punishable by the state and the main objective of the law in relation to crime is to punish the offender. A civil wrong is a wrong against another person, and the main object of the law in relation to civil wrong is to compensate the victim/aggrieved party for the harm suffered. Police concern is primarily centred on criminal matters but it is important to discuss civil matters because these often lead to commission of crime.

To start with, the police welcome all kinds of reports from the public. It is then the police that determine in some situations whether a reported case is one that requires mandatory police action. We cite here examples of cases that have been brought to the police’s attention where the pub- lic felt the police let them down by not effecting arrest of the individual(s) concerned or recover property where property is involved.

Land Disputes Misunderstanding between parties where the bone of contention is over land ownership or land boundaries may in most cases not be a case for the police to solve. A number of people have approached our stations expecting to have such issues resolved only to be disappointed when they do not get the service they would be anticipating. Land disputes are solved by the persons/organisation that gave out the land. These could be in some cases chiefs, village heads and local or central government. The disputes can also be resolved by engaging the civil court which can give a ruling after assessing all evidence proffered before it.

Stock Ownership Domesticated animals may be subject of ownership dispute as some animals are very much similar in appearance. Police may assist in resolving by facilitating the production of proof of ownership which could be in the form of stock cards but certainly do not have the ultimate say as to who becomes the eventual owner of the animal. It may also help to note that DNA tests can be done on the animals to link them to parent animals whose ownership is not in dispute.

Debts and Other Transactions Numerous reports of people seeking recovery of moneys owed by other people have also been received at police stations. It is vital for the public to understand that police do not recover debts or money owed by individuals for any reason. The most common scenarios are highlighted below.

◆ Failure to payback money owed.

◆ failure to pay rent by tenants.

◆ failure to pay off balances on property bought e. g. vehicles, houses, etc

Holding Property to facilitate

payment of a Debt

Cases have been received where a person holds onto property in the event that the person owing him money has failed to payback. Such situations have resulted in serious mis- understanding where the individual concerned ends up being charged for the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act offences of either “extortion or unauthorised borrowing” depending on the circumstances.

Parties should actually seek to resolve conflict on these issues by mutual understanding. If this does not help then the aggrieved party can seek assistance of the civil court. The court also runs the small claims court which can adjudicate and make a decision on debts that do not exceed $1 000- 00. The Rent Board has also been useful in addressing disputes involving payment of rentals. The major problem observed has been landlords requesting police to follow up on outstanding rent payments or tenants demanding refunds where they would have moved out of the house after paying rent in advance.

Serving of Process

Court summons for both criminal and civil cases to some extent can be served by the police. These are documents requiring persons mentioned therein to attend court proceedings on a given date at a particular place. Whilst police have no problems in summons for the criminal court, challenges have been experienced where some people request police to serve civil court process like summons issued for failure to settle debts. These are ordinarily served by the individual themselves or by the messenger of court. Another cause for concern is that a number of people approach the police in criminal cases for the purpose of only recovering property in theft cases without intending to institute criminal proceedings. Once a person is arrested, police have to carry out investigations and prepare cases for court action.

Lastly members of the public are encouraged to approach our Community Relations officers on any other matter they may not be sure of. The bottom line is to seek to resolve matters be they civil amicably as these often degenerate and result in them committing crime.

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Insterted by ZRP Press and Public Relations Manicaland Province