By Dickson JereThe Chief Justice of Zambia has promulgated new rules for the Constitutional Court to govern presidential election petition in an attempt to manage the “short” 14-day period in which to hear and determine such a case ahead of the August 2021 General Elections.Chief Justice Irene Mambilima, in the new Constitutional Court (Amendment) Rules, has ordered that presidential election petition should be served on the respondent within 24 hours after being filed. This is certainly aimed at “case management” of the 14 days following the 2016 fiasco where the Petitioners had difficulties even to serve the documents on time.“A petition shall be served on the respondent within twenty-four hours of filing the petition,” reads the Constitutional Court (Amendment) Rules of 2021 issued under Statutory Instrument No. 29 of 2021.If you fail to serve within 24 hours, you go back to court to seek permission to serve the petition via substituted service which can be […]
CHIEF JUSTICE IRENE MAMBILIMA STEPS IN – NEW RULES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITIONS
