A Zimbabwean judge today threw out 54 white farmers' eviction orders, but it may represent the briefest of victories for those ordered to leave their homes.
The government has ignored a host of court rulings against it in the past, and President Robert Mugabe has said he would abide only by rulings that he considered just.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has urged new black settlers to ignore farmers' legal challenges and move onto targeted farms right away.
High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza, sitting in Harare, said the 54 orders were wrongly served under Mugabe's land seizure laws.
A lawyer for the reprieved farmers said they now had to wait and see what the government does next. New eviction orders could still be sent out.
Judge Paradza's ruling came hours after Mr Mugabe said he was not prepared to negotiate with white farmers about their land.
The land seizures have been blamed in part for widespread food shortages that aid groups say threaten half Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people.
Almost 3,000 white farmers were ordered from their land earlier this month.
The government says it is redressing colonial imbalances and giving farms to landless blacks.
AFP