Bharatkumar "Bharat" Patel (born 16 April 1952) is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an judge who has served on the

Supreme Court of Zimbabwe The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe is the highest court and final court of appeal in Zimbabwe. The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who, like the other justices, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Judici ...

since 2013.

Education

Patel was born on 16 April 1952 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(today

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

). He attended Louis Mountbatten School, a government school in Salisbury. He received his secondary education at two private schools,

Peterhouse Boys' School Peterhouse Boys' School (or Peterhouse) is an independent, boarding high school for boys in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. The school was founded by Fred Snell in 1955 and is located on an estate that is shared with Calderwood Park, a conservati ...

and St. George's College. He completed his legal training at the

University of Rhodesia The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

in 1975 and subsequently departed for England, where he qualified as a barrister at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

and obtained his master's degree in law from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

.List of Designated Persons: Special Economic Measures (Zimbabwe) Regulations
", Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, updated 17 July 2009.

Career background

Patel began his career in 1978 in the London para-legal sector, with the Greater London Citizens Advice Bureaux Service, focusing on civil rights, employment and social welfare law. In 1982 he returned to Zimbabwe and joined government service as legal counsel performing advisory and representative duties in matters of public law and international law. From 1993 he headed the Division of Legal Advice in the Attorney-General's Office of Zimbabwe until he was appointed to the position of Deputy Attorney General of Zimbabwe in August 2000. In April 2003 he assumed the post of Acting Attorney-General after the resignation of Andrew Chigovera. In December 2004 Patel was appointed to the bench in the High Court of Zimbabwe, and assumed judicial duties in January 2005. From December 2007 to December 2008 he was temporarily re-appointed to the post of Acting Attorney-General, following the suspension and removal from office of the previous incumbent, Sobuza Gula-Ndebele. In May 2013 Patel was appointed to the

as Judge of Appeal. He was simultaneously appointed to the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe by virtue of certain transitional provisions in the new Constitution of Zimbabwe which came into operation in May 2013. He was sworn in, alongside fellow Justice Ben Hlatshwayo, by President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

at State House in Harare on 22 May 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Bharat 1952 births Living people Alumni of Peterhouse Boys' School Zimbabwean Hindus 20th-century Zimbabwean lawyers Attorneys-general of Zimbabwe Judges of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe University of Zimbabwe alumni Alumni of University College London Alumni of St. George's College, Harare Zimbabwean expatriates in England 21st-century Zimbabwean judges Zimbabwean people of Gujarati descent