Censorship and Entertainments Control Act, Age-Restricted Admission and Display Duty
Censorship and Entertainments Control Act [Chapter 10:04], ss. 27-28
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 1 December 1967.
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Where the Board of Censors has approved a film, film advertisement, or public entertainment subject to a condition that it not be exhibited or given to persons of a specified age or sex, no person of that specified age or sex may be present at the place where it is being exhibited or given, subject to a defence for a person present in the course of employment or outside the admitted area (s. 27(1)).
A person who contravenes this is liable to a fine not exceeding level four or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both (s. 27(2)). Separately, where the Board has imposed such a condition, the person in charge of the place or premises must cause the relevant restriction to be prominently displayed, and no person may publish or exhibit an advertisement of the film or entertainment unless the restriction is published or exhibited with it (s. 28(1)).
The age at which admission is restricted is set by the Board's approval condition for each film, advertisement or entertainment rather than fixed by the Act itself at a single statutory number.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 27(2): a person present at a restricted exhibition or entertainment in contravention of the Board's age or sex condition is liable to a fine not exceeding level four or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both. Section 28's display and advertisement duties carry their own offence under section 32 read with the Act's general offences provision, punishable on the same standard scale of fines; the text reviewed did not isolate a separate fine level for section 28 specifically. Fines are expressed by level on the Criminal Law Code's standard scale rather than in a stated currency amount, so no monetary penalty_structure is recorded here.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Board of Censors, Zimbabwe
What it reaches
Covered services
The person in charge of a place or premises where a Board-restricted film, film advertisement, or public entertainment is exhibited or given, and any person publishing or exhibiting an advertisement of it
Obligation class
Age verification, Disclosure
When LexLint raises it
publishes_adult_content
Read the law
Censorship and Entertainments Control Act, official text reproduced by Veritas Zimbabwe