Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Act 2009

Legal Practitioners (Amendment) [No. 17 of 2009 203
GOVERNMENT OF ZAMBIA
ACT
No. 17 of 2009
Date of Assent: 28th August, 2009
An Act to amend the Legal Practitioners Act. [ 31st August, 2009
ENACTED by the Parliament of Zambia
This Act may be cited as the Legal Practitioners (Amendment)
Act, 2009, and shall be read as one with the Legal Practitioners
Act, in this Act referred to as the principal Act. The principal Act is amended by the repeal of section eleven
and the substitution therefor of the following new section:
11. (1) Subject to subsection (1) of section thirteen, a
person may be admitted as a practitioner if that person—
is a holder of a degree in law obtained from a public
university established under the University Act,
1999, and whose programme has been accredited
by the Council ofthe Zambia Institute ofAdvanced
Legal Education; or
is a holder of a degree in law obtained from a private
university registered in accordance with the
provisions of the University Act, 1999, and whose
programme has been accredited by the Council of
the Zambia Institute ofAdvanced Legal Education;
or
Enactment
Short title
Cap.

ty Act, 1999, and whose
programme has been accredited by the Council of
the Zambia Institute ofAdvanced Legal Education;
or
Enactment
Short title
Cap.

30
Repeal and
replacement
of section 11
Professional
and
academic
qualifications
Act No. 11 of
1999
Act No. 11 of
1999
Copies of this Act may he obtained from the Government Printer,
P.O. Box 30136, Lusaka. Price K3000 each.

ations
Act No. 11 of
1999
Act No. 11 of
1999
Copies of this Act may he obtained from the Government Printer,
P.O. Box 30136, Lusaka. Price K3000 each.

204 INo. 17 of 2009 Legal Practitioners (Amendment)
is a holder of a degree in law obtained from a
university outside Zambia in a country operating
the Common Law system approved by the Council
of the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal
Education and whose degree in law is recognised
by a university accredited under the Zambia
Cap. 49 Institute of Advanced Legal Education Act as
academically equivalent to a degree of that
accredited university; and
has-
for one year, attended a course of post
graduate study required by the Council of
the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal
Education and provided by the Zambia
Institute ofAdvanced Legal Education and
has been duly certified as having fulfilled
the requirements of such course by the
Director of the Institute; or
after having obtained a degree, completed
two years' service in Zambia as an articled
clerk under articles of clerkship to a
practitioner; and
(e) has passed the Legal Practitioners Qualifying
Examination.

rvice in Zambia as an articled
clerk under articles of clerkship to a
practitioner; and
(e) has passed the Legal Practitioners Qualifying
Examination.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection ( I ), a person may be admitted as
a practitioner if that person is a qualified lawyer, by whatever name
called, and thereby has a right of audience before courts exercising
original civil or criminal jurisdiction in a self-governing State which
is, or was at any time, a Member State, or was part of a Member
State, of the Commonwealth of Nations and which applies as its
predominant basic system of law the Common Law or a legal system
founded upon the Common Law and
(a) that person-
has been a practising lawyer of not less
than three years' standing in the State
in which the person is entitled to
practice;
has been actively employed for not less
than six months in Zambia —

an three years' standing in the State
in which the person is entitled to
practice;
has been actively employed for not less
than six months in Zambia —

Legal Practitioners (Amendment) [No.

Legal Practitioners (Amendment) [No.

17 of 2009 205
in a legal capacity in the office of
a practitioner of prescribed standing;
in a judicial or legal capacity in a
department of Government
prescribed by the Minister; or
(C) in the department of a town clerk who is
admitted as a practitioner under this Act
and is the person's employer, or the
public officer in charge of the
department of Government in which the
person has served, or under whom the
person has worked, as the case may be,
has certified the person's work as being
satisfactory; or
has for one year attended a course of post graduate
study required by the Council of the Zambia
Institute of Advanced Legal Education, and has
been duly certified as having fulfilled the
requirements of such course by the Director of
the Institute; and
has passed such parts of the Legal Practitioners'
Qualifying Examination set by the Council of
the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal
Education as may be specified by the Council;
or
(b) that person —
has been a practising lawyer of not less than three
years' standing in the State in which the person
is entitled to practice and the Council of the
Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education,
after consultation with the Minister and the Chief
Justice, deems the person's qualifications to be
sufficient for the purposes of this section;
has been actively employed for not less than one
year in Zambia—
(A) in a legal capacity in the office of a
practitioner of prescribed standing;

tion;
has been actively employed for not less than one
year in Zambia—
(A) in a legal capacity in the office of a
practitioner of prescribed standing;

206 [No. 17 of 2009 Legal Practitioners (Amendment)
Amendment
of section 12
ActNo. 11 of
1999
Repeal and
replacement
of section 16
in a judicial or legal capacity in a
department of Government prescribed
by the Minister; or
in the department of a town clerk who is
admitted as a practitioner under this Act
and is the person's employer, or the
public officer in charge of the
department of Government in which the
person has served, or the town clerk
under whom the person has worked, as
the case may be, has certified the
person's work as being satisfactory; or
has for one year attended a course of post graduate study
required by the Council of the Zambia Institute of
Advanced Legal Education, and has been duly certified
as having fulfilled the requirements of such course by
the Director of the Institute; and
has passed the Legal Practitioners Qualifying Examination
set by the Council of the Zambia Institute of Advanced
Legal Education.

f the Institute; and
has passed the Legal Practitioners Qualifying Examination
set by the Council of the Zambia Institute of Advanced
Legal Education.

Section twelve of the principal Act is amended in subsection
(1) by the deletion of paragraph (b) and the substitution therefor of
the following:
(b) the person has obtained a degree in law from a university
established under, or registered in accordance with, the
University Act, 1999, and whose programme has been
accredited by the Council of the Zambia Institute of
Advanced Legal Education; and. The principal Act is amended by the repeal of section sixteen
and the substitution therefor of the following new section:

Legal Practitioners (Amendment) [No. 17 of 2009 207
16. (1) Upon the appointment of any person to the office
of Attorney-General, Solicitor-General or Director of Public
Prosecutions, the rank and dignity of a State Counsel for
Zambia shall be conferred upon that person by the President.
(2) The person holding the office of Director of Public
Prosecutions, shall, on the commencement of this Act, be
conferred with the rank and diginity of State Counsel by the
President.
Attorney-
General,
Solicitor-
General and
Director of
Public
Prosecutions
to be
appointed
State
Counsel for
Zambia