Miscellaneous
Part IX Miscellaneous
Article 111: Resignations
- Any person who is appointed or elected to any office established by this Constitution may resign from that office by writing under his hand addressed to the persons or authority by whom he was appointed or elected: Provided that in the case of a person who holds office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly his resignation from that office shall be addressed to the Assembly, and in the case of an elected or nominated member of the Assembly his resignation shall be addressed to the Speaker.
- The resignation of any person from any office established by this Constitution shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the person or authority to whom it is addressed or by any person authorized by that person or authority to receive it.
Article 112: Reappointment and Concurrent Appointments
- Where any person has vacated any office established by this Constitution he may, if qualified, again be appointed or elected to hold that office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
- Where a power is conferred by this Constitution upon any person to make any appointment to any office, a person may be appointed to that office notwithstanding that some other person may be holding that office, when that other person is on leave of absence pending the relinquishment of the office; and where two or more persons are holding the same office by reason of an appointment made in pursuance of this clause, then for the purposes of any function conferred upon the holder of that office, the person last appointed shall deemed to be the sole holder of the office.
Article 113: Interpretation
- In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires
"Act of Parliament" means a law enacted by Parliament;
"Article" means an Article of this Constitution;
"Chief" means a person who is recognized by the President under the provisions of the Chiefs Act or any law amending or replacing that Act as the Litunga or Western Province, a Paramount Chief, Senior Chief, Chief or Sub-Chief or a person who is appointed as Deputy Chief;
"Clause" means a clause of the Article in which the word occurs;
"financial year" means the period of twelve months ending on the 31 Dec in any year or on such other day as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament: Provided that by or under an Act of Parliament prescribing a day other than the 31 Dec as the terminal day of the financial year the said period of twelve months may be extended or reduced for any one financial year for the purpose of effecting such prescribed change;
"the Gazette" means the official Gazette of the Government of Zambia;
"High Court" means the High Court established by this Constitution;
"high judicial office" means the office of a judge of a court of unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in the Republic or Ireland or the office of a judge of a court having jurisdiction in appeals from such a court;
"House" means the National Assembly; "meeting" means all sittings of the National Assembly held during a period beginning when the Assembly first sits after being summoned at any time and terminating when the Assembly is adjourned sine die or at the conclusion of a session; "oath" includes affirmation;
"the oath of allegiance" means such oath of allegiance as may be prescribed by law;
"paragraph" means a paragraph of the clause in which the word occurs;
"person" includes any company or association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporated;
"public office" means an office of emolument in the public service;
"public officer" means a person holding or acting in any public office;
"the public service" subject to clauses (2) and (3) shall have the meaning assigned to it by an Act of Parliament;
"session" means the sittings of the National Assembly beginning when it first sits after the coming into operation of this Constitution or after Parliament is prorogued or dissolved at any time and ending when Parliament is prorogued or is dissolved without having been prorogued;
"sitting" means a period during which the National Assembly is sitting without adjournment and includes any period during which it is in committee;
"statutory instrument" means any Proclamation, regulation, order, rule, notice or other instrument, (not being an Act of Parliament) of a legislative as distinct from an executive, character;
"Supreme Court" means the Supreme Court of Zambia established by this Constitution.
- In this Constitution references to offices in the public service shall be construed as including references to the offices of judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court, and to the offices of Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and members of the Industrial Relations Court.
- In this Constitution references to an office in the public service shall not be construed as including references to the offices of the Attorney-General, or a member of any Commission established by this Constitution or by an Act of Parliament or to the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly or any office in the department of the Clerk of the National Assembly.
- For the purposes of this Constitution, a person shall not be considered as holding a public office by reason only of the fact he is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance in respect of service under the Government of Zambia or of its predecessor Government.
- A person shall not be regarded as disqualified for appointment to any office to which a public officer is not qualified to be appointed by reason only that he holds a public office if he is on leave of absence pending relinquishment of that office.
- In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to the holder of an office by the term designating his office shall be construed as including a reference to any person for the time being lawfully acting in or performing the functions of that office: Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to references to the President or Vice-President in Articles 36, 37, 39, and 45.
- References in this Constitution to the power to remove a public officer from his office shall be construed as including references to any power conferred by any law to require or permit that officer to retire from the public service: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as conferring on any person or authority power to require a judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court, the Investigator-General, the Auditor-General or the Director of Public Prosecutions to retire from the public service.
- Any provision in this Constitution that vests in any person or authority power to remove any public officer from his office shall be without prejudice to the power of any person or authority to abolish any office or to any law providing for the compulsory retirement of public officers generally or any class of public officers on attaining an age specified therein.
- Where power is vested by this Constitution in any person or authority to appoint any person to act in or perform the functions of any office if the holder thereof is himself unable to perform those functions, no such appointment shall be called in question on the ground that the holder of the office was not unable to perform those functions.
- No provision of this Constitution that any person or authority in the exercise of any functions under this Constitution shall be construed as precluding a court of law from exercising jurisdiction in relation to any question whether that person or authority has performed those functions in accordance with this Constitution or any other law.
- When any power is conferred by this Constitution to make any Proclamation, statutory instrument, order, regulation or rule, or to issue any direction or certificate or confer recognition, the power shall be construed as including the power, exercisable in like manner, to amend or revoke any such Proclamation, statutory instrument, order, regulation, rule, direction or certificate or to withdraw any such recognition: Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to the power to issue a certificate conferred by clause (2) of Article 36.
- Any reference in this Constitution to a law that amends or replaces any other law shall be construed as including a reference to a law that modifies, re-enacts with or without amendment or modification, or makes different provision in lieu of that other law.
- Where any Act passed after the commencement of this Constitution repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provisions thereof, references in this Constitution to the provisions so repealed shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to the provisions so re-enacted.
- Where any Act passed after the commencement of this Constitution repeals any provision thereof then, unless the contrary intention appears, the repeal shall not -
- revive anything not in force or existing at the time at which the repeal takes effect; or
- affect the previous operation of any provision so repealed or anything duly done or suffered under any provision so repealed; or
- affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any provision so repealed; or
- affect any penalty, forfeiture or confiscation or punishment incurred under any provision so repealed; or
- affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or confiscation or punishment as aforesaid, and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or confiscation or punishment may be imposed, as if the repealing Act had not been passed.
- In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions importing the masculine gender include females.
- In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions in the singular include the plural and words and expressions in the plural include the singular.
- Where this Constitution confers any power or imposes any duty, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires.
- Where by any Act which repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of this Constitution, and which is not to come into force immediately on the publication thereof, there is conferred -
- a power to make or a power exercisable by making statutory instruments; or
- a power to make appointments; or
- a power to do any other thing for the purposes of the provision in question; that power may be exercised at any time on or after the date of publication of the Act in the Gazette: Provided that no instrument, appointment or thing made or done under that power shall, unless it is necessary to bring the Act into force, have any effect until the commencement of the Act.
- In computing time for the purposes of any provision of this Constitution, unless a contrary intention is expressed -
- a period of days from the happening of an event or the doing of any act or thing shall be deemed to be exclusive of the day on which the event happens or the act or thing is done;
- if the last day of the period is Sunday or a public holiday which days are in this clause referred to as "excluded days" the period shall include the next following day, not being an excluded day;
- where any act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be done or taken on a certain day, then, if that day happens to be an excluded day the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken the next day afterwards, not being an excluded day;
- where an act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be done or taken within any time not exceeding six days, excluded days shall not be reckoned in the computation of the time.
