Procedures
High Court Rules with a Commercial Division and a three-tier appeal structure
Civil procedure follows the High Court Rules, with a Commercial Division for commercial matters subject to expedited timetables. Limitation applies the English Limitation Act 1939 as a statute of general application — six years for contract and tort. Appeals run to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Local courts, subordinate courts, the High Court with its Commercial and Industrial Relations Divisions, then the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
- Deadline — Contract and tort claims: 6 years
- Deadline — Appeal to the Court of Appeal: notice within 30 days
Governing law
- High Court Act (Chapter 27) and Rules
- Limitation Act 1939 (UK, applied as a statute of general application) — 6 years
- Court of Appeal Act 7 of 2016
In practice
The continued application of the English Limitation Act 1939 as a statute of general application is a genuine trap: Zambian limitation periods are found in a British statute of that year rather than in any Zambian enactment, and the 2016 insertion of the Court of Appeal changed appellate routing that older authorities still describe incorrectly.