PUBLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION The Constitution of Zimbabwe was published on the 22nd May, 2013, as a Schedule to the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013 (Act No. 1 of 2013). COMMENCEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION Certain provisions of the Constitution (principally the Declaration of Rights and provisions for presidential and parliamentary elections) came into operation on the 22nd May, 2013, when Act 1 of 2013 was published; that date was the “publication day” as defined in paragraph 1 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. The provisions that came into operation then are set out in paragraph 3 of that Schedule. The rest of the Constitution came into operation on the 22nd August, 2013, when the President was sworn in after the first elections; this date is the “effective date” as defined in paragraph 1 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION The Constitution has been amended by the following Act— Number and year Short title Date of commencement 10 of 2017 Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 1) Act, 2017 7.9.2017 2 of 2021 Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 2) Act, 2021 (as corrected by SI 114 of 2023) 7.5.2021 IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING THE AMENDMENTS The validity of both Act 10 of 2017 and Act 2 of 2021 have been challenged in the Constitutional Court. The validity of Act 10 of 2017 was challenged on the ground that the Senate had not passed it by the requisite two-thirds majority. The Court delivered its judgment on the 31st March 2020 [the case was Gonese & Another v Parliament of Zimbabwe & Others CCZ 4/20 and the judgment can be accessed on the Veritas website – link]. The Court agreed that the Bill had not been properly passed and was invalid, but the Court suspended the declaration of invalidity for 180 days to give the Senate an opportunity to pass the Bill in accordance with the Constitution, failing which the declaration would become final. After some delay the Senate finally passed the Bill. Act No. 2 of 2021 has been challenged on the ground that numerous amendments were made to the Bill during its passage through Parliament, and the Act was substantially different from the Bill that was published in terms of section 328(3) of the Constitution. The challenge has not yet been heard. Both Acts have also been challenged on the ground that they violate the fundamental structure or principles of the Constitution, in particular the principle of separation of powers. That challenge has not yet been heard by the Constitutional Court. Veritas considers that both Acts are invalid, and this publication must not be construed as any form of admission or concession as to their validity.