How to cite a Zambian case

The elements

A usable Zambian citation identifies the parties, the case or appeal number, the court, and the date of the judgment. Where the judgment has been reported, the report series, year, volume and page are given as well. Where it has not been reported, the case number and court carry the whole burden of identification, so they must be exact.

• Party names, in the order they appear on the judgment
• Case, appeal or selected-judgment number
• The deciding court
• The date, or at minimum the month and year, of delivery
• The reported citation, where one exists

Reported and unreported

Prefer a reported citation where the case has been reported; it is the most stable reference. For unreported judgments, cite the case number and court and make the judgment available to the court and to the other parties. Do not cite a judgment you have not read in full.

Pinpointing

When relying on a specific passage, give a pinpoint — the page of the reported judgment, or the paragraph number where the judgment is paragraph-numbered. Quote exactly and sparingly, and never paraphrase inside quotation marks. If you cannot see the passage in the document you hold, do not cite it.

Citations and AI tools

AI systems are known to produce citations that look correct and do not exist. LEX ZED's assistant is constrained to cite only authorities present in its verified library or retrieved from approved public sources, and it is instructed to say when a judgment's text is unavailable rather than fill the gap. Even so, the professional obligation is unchanged: open the judgment, read it, and confirm the citation before it goes into a document.