Understanding statutory instruments in Zambia

Where the power comes from

A statutory instrument is only valid to the extent that an Act of Parliament confers the power to make it. The enabling section is normally near the end of the Act and identifies who may make the instrument and on what subjects. An instrument that goes beyond that power may be challenged as ultra vires.

This means the first thing to read when handed a statutory instrument is not the instrument but its enabling provision. If the instrument purports to do something the Act does not authorise, that is a legal argument, not a technicality.

What they typically contain

In practice statutory instruments carry the detail that Parliament chose not to put in the Act: commencement dates, prescribed fees and forms, licensing conditions, procedural rules, thresholds and schedules. They are amended far more frequently than Acts, which is precisely why they must be checked afresh for every matter.

Finding and verifying them

Statutory instruments are published in the Government Gazette and are collected by ZambiaLII alongside the principal legislation. Identify an instrument by its number and year, confirm the Act under which it was made, and check whether a later instrument has amended or revoked it. As with Acts, the currency check is the part that is most often omitted and most often fatal.