Chief Justice Mumba Malila has proposed a significant realignment of the Constitutional Court to optimize the judicial system’s functionality. Justice Malila’s recommendation comes as he highlighted the current challenges posed by the placement of the Constitutional Court at the same level as the Supreme Court.
Speaking in Lusaka during the commemoration of the Supreme Court’s Golden Jubilee, Chief Justice Malila noted that the Constitutional Court’s equal status with the Supreme Court has led to certain Supreme Court judges handling fewer appeal cases. This situation has resulted in some judges having a less active caseload, and as a result, the judicial system’s efficiency has been impacted.
The commemoration of the Supreme Court’s Golden Jubilee was held under the theme “Empowering the Next Generation of Justice Leaders.” It provided an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments and challenges faced by Zambia’s judiciary over the past fifty years.
In a related development, Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, advocated for the reintroduction of the Ministry of Gender. The move is aimed at bolstering gender equality in various influential positions across the country. Gender equality has been a pressing issue globally, and Zambia’s commitment to addressing this concern demonstrates a dedication to ensuring equal opportunities for all.
Mwangala Zaloumis, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), also weighed in on the matter. Zaloumis proposed the formation of the Political Parties’ Act with provisions aimed at enhancing women’s participation in politics. Empowering women in politics and decision-making roles is seen as a critical step towards achieving gender equality and promoting diverse representation in leadership.
Former Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairperson, Florence Mumba, lauded the judiciary’s progress in advancing female representation in decision-making positions. This recognition reflects the strides made in breaking gender barriers and promoting inclusivity within Zambia’s political and legal systems.
Isn’t there a difference in the cases handled by each respective court. Or is there something hidden in this statement?
The Head of the Judiciary is the Chief Justice who sits in the Supreme Court. However, the creation of the ConCourt with its own President as a Court of final jurisdiction seems to have created 2 Heads. Our Supreme Law is the Constitution yet the CJ doesn’t now deal with matters to do with it as that has been delegated to the ConCourt whose President is below the CJ. This is an anomaly which relegates the CJ to handling appeals of civil or criminal nature. Perhaps we should abolish the ConCourt and instead expand the bench of the Supreme Court and impose a timeframe within which constitutional matters must be heard and disposed. The CJ must be given powers to appoint a panel of Judges to deal with each constitutional matter expeditiously
If Supreme Court judges have so little work to do, why do appeals in the Supreme Court take so long to be heard? Sorry Mr CJ, you appear to be marking your own exam sheet.
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# Ayatollah
Keep sharing your wisdom. You do it every day and we appreciate your point of views.
Why should a person get surprised by what you say, and for that matter sound patronising. Its called being (critically cencerious) or judgemental. We need to stop judging other people as of less important & wiser than us.
No person on earth is the prime owner of wisdom. Everyone has a piece-of-wisdom that the next person does (not) have or has (not) experienced. Even a person who has not entered a school classroom in life can give us wisdom. The minute you portray yourself as the righteous person or go around demeaning others, you basically reveal to the world, you are a big loser in life.
@Deja Vu I thought so too. Doesnt the constitutional court deal with HOW issues affect our constitution?
@INDEPENDENT OBSERVER I’m humbled
In other countries, the constitutional court is the highest court on constitutional matters. Its jurisdiction is restricted to constitutional matters and issues connected with decisions on constitutional matters. Usually, the Chief Justice heads the court.
The CJ is administrative Head, Presiding Officer, and assigns Cases. He can draft Judgments although he has the authority to assign the drafting to any one of the justices. Zambia has a unique arrangement although one cant say it is absurd. You can have a constitutional court that is not subjugated to any other institution except the constitution. That way you emphasise the supremacy of the Constitution-but you also need to generally have very sharp lawyers.
Further, the Supreme Court is a court of appeal, however, in the case of the Presidential election petition it sits as a trial court and usually it’s a full bench. A precedent has been set were this function has now moved to the ConCourt. We’re likely to face a crisis in 2026 as the matters raised in the 2016 Presidential election petition weren’t heard and decided. The ConCourt was divided because it comprised mainly inexperienced Judges. Contentious matters must be addressed before the next election like the 21 days. Is it 21 working or calendar days? Should the President handover power to the Speaker of a dissolved Parliament?
I’m surprised that this has come from you. The thumbs up is mine.
@@ INDEPENDENT OBSERVER
You nailed the coffin. We have buffoons who think they are the only ones who know how to think. Why should a person state that they are surprised to see another person come up with a brilliant idea. It’s just pure jealous in an ugly format.
I think, we should treat the Constitution Court as we treat Technical Managers.
The Chief Justice is lazy. He should be doing his homework. This is mainly operational
” has led to certain Supreme Court judges handling fewer appeal cases. This situation has resulted in some judges having a less active caseload, and as a result, the judicial system’s efficiency has been impacted”
Its you who should give them cases.
And this was done by a fellow lawyer! He went on to fill the Constitutional court bench with unqualified judges. Lungu was truly one hell of a cantankerous donkey who should never have been president. I blame it all on Inonge Wina, that treacherous family of stinking turncoats.
lungu this,Lungu that..Move on *LOSER*. You fools need to grow.
Ayatollah,
Thanks for presenting your views on the matter in such a clear and non partisan manner. I hope the powers that be can move this discussion on to address the issues that have been raised.
Supreme Court Justices should be lifetime appointment and should largely be unaccountable to the people. They should be aristocrats.
This will mean that when a lifetime appointed, aristocratic, unaccountable branch of government has absolute authority over the two elected branches.