Criminal Law in Zimbabwe

Criminal law is an aspect of public law and relates to conduct which the state considers with disapproval and which it seeks to control and/or involves the enforcement of particular forms of behaviour, and the state, as the representative of society, acts positively to ensure compliance. Thus, criminal cases are brought by the state in the name of the Crown and cases are reported in the form of Regina v … (Regina is simply Latin for ‘queen’ and case references are usually abbreviated to R v …) whereas civil cases are referred to by the names of the parties involved in the dispute, for example Smith v Jones. In criminal law, a prosecutor prosecutes a defendant (‘the accused’). In civil law, a claimant sues (‘brings a claim against’) a defendant.