Can arbitration be used to resolve church property disputes in Zimbabwe?

Recently, the courts in Zimbabwe have been inundated with cases relating to the resolution of church property disputes. The superior courts have noted that there is an increase in church property litigation in Zimbabwe. The question on how church property disputes can be resolved in Zimbabwe was addressed by the High Court in Independent African Church v Maheya 1998 (1) ZLR 552 (H).

The High Court noted that, it is competent for the courts to enforce express terms contained in a church’s constituting documents governing the use of ownership of property. However, the courts should not resolve or inquire into matters of religious doctrine in order to determine entitlement to property. It is submitted that arbitration, which in Zimbabwe is regulated by the Arbitration Act [Chapter 7:15] may be an appropriate forum for the resolution of church property disputes.

Leading authors, Davison Kanokanga & Prince Kanokanga, UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration: A Commentary on the Zimbabwean Arbitration Act [Chapter 7:15] (Juta & Co, 2022) at 26 defined ‘arbitration’ in the following manner:

• Since time immemorial, disagreements, misunderstandings and conflicts have existed that require resolution in some way or another. Arbitration is therefore an internationally recognized alternative dispute-resolution mechanism, one that is used to resolve disputes between parties, particularly commercial parties, where the parties wish to avoid their respective courts and therefore prefer to have their disputes resolved by a specialist arbitrator or specialist arbitrators rather than generalist judges.