Zimbabwe's Cabinet has approved the Child Justice Bill 2026. The bill would set up a separate criminal justice system for children who come into conflict with the law. The decision was announced at the post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, 13 October.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Information said: "Cabinet considered and approved the Child Justice Bill, 2026 which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation." Hanyani News' account of the briefing also reports the approval.

What the bill provides for

According to the Ministry of Information, the bill provides for "the establishment of a distinct criminal justice system for children who are in conflict with the law" and the protection of children's rights "as entrenched in the Constitution as well as in regional and international instruments".

It also sets up provincial and district justice committees and district diversion committees, and amends the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] on the age of criminal responsibility for a child.

"Diversion" generally means dealing with a child's case outside formal prosecution, for example through counselling, mediation or community-based programmes. The announcement did not say what the new age of criminal responsibility will be.

Why a passed bill came back to Cabinet

This is not a new bill. Open Parly ZW, which monitors Parliament, posted that the bill "was referred back to Parliament after having been previously passed by both houses and gazetted", requiring clear definitions of the roles of child protection officers and diversion officers. The aim, it said, was to enhance coordination and eliminate duplication.

According to Hanyani, nine clauses were reviewed. They cover guardianship where no appropriate adult is available, recommendations on releasing a detained child, and the extent of the diversion officer's role. The revised bill places responsibility in a single office, which the government says removes overlaps and strengthens the supervision of diverted cases.

A long road

The bill has been in the system for several years. In July 2021, CITE reported that Cabinet had approved an earlier version, the Child Justice Bill 2020. At the time, the government said the age of criminal responsibility was "being reviewed upwards from 7 to 12 years".

Veritas, a Harare legal information trust, reported in its Bill Watch of 2 April 2023 that the Senate had passed the bill without amendment, after the National Assembly had also passed it unamended. It said the Justice Minister had explained that the bill would raise the age of criminal responsibility "from the present 7 years to 12 years".

In January this year, CITE reported that lawyers and children's rights activists were calling for the bill to be enacted. One activist told CITE that by 29 March 2023 the bill "had been passed by both the Senate and the National Assembly" but had not been signed into law by the President.

The age question

Under the current Criminal Law Code, Veritas explained in 2022, children below seven "are regarded as incapable of committing crimes". Children aged seven to 14 "are presumed to be incapable of forming the necessary intent to commit crimes", unless evidence at their trial shows they can form that intent. The version of the bill Veritas analysed would make children under 12 legally incapable, and presume children aged 12 to 14 incapable unless the contrary is proved.

It is not yet clear what age the revised 2026 version sets. The Cabinet announcement says only that the bill amends the Criminal Law Code on the age of criminal responsibility.

Section 81 of the Constitution says a child should not be detained "except as a measure of last resort", and that a child's best interests are "paramount in every matter concerning the child". Campaigners have argued that, without a dedicated law, those protections are hard to enforce in the courts.

What we don't know yet

The government has not publicly set out a timetable for the bill. The revised text has not been made public, so the full detail of the nine reviewed clauses is not known.

Zimbo Grapevine will update this story when the revised bill is published.

Sources: Ministry of Information (@InfoMinZW) on X, 13 Oct 2026: https://x.com/InfoMinZW/status/2109976028483379315 · Open Parly ZW (@OpenParlyZw) on X, 13 Oct 2026: https://x.com/OpenParlyZw/status/2110078436332937569 · Hanyani News (post-Cabinet briefing), 13 Oct 2026: https://hanyani.com/post-cabinet-media-briefing-13-october-2026-child-justice-bill-kariba-solar-and-more/ · Veritas, Bill Watch 22-2022, 29 May 2022: https://veritaszim.net/node/5687 · Veritas, Bill Watch 15-2023, 2 Apr 2023: https://veritaszim.net/node/6239 · CITE, 19 Jan 2026: https://cite.org.zw/activists-demand-action-on-long-delayed-child-justice-bill/ · CITE, 29 Jul 2021: https://cite.org.zw/cabinet-okays-child-justice-bill/