Rights
1991 Constitution as amended in 2016, with a Constitutional Court since 2016
The Constitution of 1991, substantially amended by Act 2 of 2016, created a separate Constitutional Court and introduced a presidential running-mate system and a 50-per-cent-plus-one election threshold. Part III contains the Bill of Rights, which the 2016 amendment notably did not expand — an attempt to do so failed at referendum.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Constitutional Court has exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional matters; the Supreme Court is final on other appeals.
Governing law
- Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act 2 of 2016
- Constitutional Court Act 8 of 2016
- Constitution Part III — Bill of Rights
In practice
The 2016 reform split the apex: a Constitutional Court for constitutional questions and the Supreme Court for the rest, with a Court of Appeal inserted below both. Because the 2016 referendum on an expanded Bill of Rights failed to reach the required threshold, Part III remains the pre-1996 text, so Zambia has a modernised court structure applying an older rights instrument.