Abstract
Communications data has become an integral part of criminal proceedings from police investigationsto trial proceedings. In Zimbabwe, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) is relied upon by law enforcement to apply for search warrants which enable them to acquire to access communications data from telecommunication providers. In certain instances, law enforcement agencies have relied on warrantless search procedure outlined in the CPEA to access metadata from telecommunication providers. However, the legality of such practice has not really been properly examined, the presumption being that a search warrant issued under the CPEA is valid and entitles the police to attain metadata from service providers. This is despite the existence of the Interception of Communications Act and the Postal and Telecommunications (Subscriber Registration) Regulations 2014 which impose the obligation of metadata retention on telecommunication providers for access by law enforcement and contain their own procedures for how law enforcement may access metadata in their criminal investigations.
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