Attorney General Cannot Represent Speaker of the National Assembly -LAZ Lawyer

Attorney General Cannot Represent Speaker of the National Assembly -LAZ Lawyer

These submissions are filed on behalf of the Petitioner in support of the Notice of Motion seeking an order that the Attorney General is not competent to represent the Speaker of the National Assembly in these proceedings, and that the Speaker
should instead be represented by counsel appointed independently by the National Assembly or the Parliamentary Service Commission.

The matter arises from a Petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Speaker’s ruling of 9 July 2025, which permitted the continuation of the legislative process for the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 7 of 2025,notwithstanding the binding judgment of this Honourable Court delivered on 27 June 2025.

The Petition squarely raises questions of constitutional compliance in the
conduct of parliamentary business.

The representation issue is not procedural minutiae. It goes to the heart of the separation of powers, institutional independence, and the structural integrity of our constitutional order.

Where the acts of the Legislature are under judicial scrutiny, the Constitution requires that the Legislature defends those acts in its own voice,free from Executive influence, actual or perceived.

The Attorney General, by constitutional design, is the principal legal adviser to the Executive and a Cabinet-facing officer.

The constitutional and statutory framework, particularly Articles 62, 77, and 177 of the Constitution, and the State Proceedings Act, confine the Attorney General’s representational mandate to the Government as
litigant, not to the Legislature acting in its own institutional capacity.

These submissions will show that neither the Constitution nor the governing statutes authorise the Attorney General to act for the Speaker in a matter of this kind; that the arrangement poses a structural conflict of interest; there is need to
affirm distinct representation of each branch of Government when its acts are subject to constitutional review

These submissions are filed on behalf of the Petitioner in support of the Notice of Motion seeking an order that the Attorney General is not competent to represent the Speaker of the National Assembly in these proceedings, and that the Speaker should instead be represented by counsel appointed independently by the National Assembly or the Parliamentary Service Commission.

The matter arises from a Petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Speaker’s ruling of 9 July 2025, which permitted the continuation of the legislative process for the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 7 of 2025,notwithstanding the binding judgment of this Honourable Court delivered on 27 June 2025.

The Petition squarely raises questions of constitutional compliance in the conduct of parliamentary business.

The representation issue is not procedural minutiae. It goes to the heart of the separation of powers, institutional independence, and the structural integrity of our constitutional order.

Where the acts of the Legislature are under judicial scrutiny,the Constitution requires that the Legislature defends those acts in its own voice,free from Executive influence, actual or perceived.

The Attorney General, by constitutional design, is the principal legal adviser to the Executive and a Cabinet-facing officer.

The constitutional and statutory framework,particularly Articles 62, 77, and 177 of the Constitution, and the State Proceedings Act, confine the Attorney General’s representational mandate to the Government as litigant, not to the Legislature acting in its own institutional capacity.

These submissions will show that neither the Constitution nor the governing statutes authorise the Attorney General to act for the Speaker in a matter of this kind; that the arrangement poses a structural conflict of interest; there is need to affirm distinct representation of each branch of Government when its acts are subject to constitutional review

A declaration that the Attorney-General, being an Executive office-holder and the principal legal adviser to the Government under Article 177 of the Constitution, is not competent to represent the Speaker of the National Assembly in these proceedings, the same being litigation that concerns the constitutionality of a parliamentary ruling and the internal legislative process.

A further declaration that, in proceedings where the constitutionality of acts or rulings of the Speaker are directly in issue, the proper and constitutionally compliant
course is for the Speaker to be represented by counsel appointed independently by,and accountable solely to, the National Assembly through its authorised mechanisms, such as the Parliamentary Service Commission.

An order directing the Speaker of the National Assembly to secure and instruct independent legal representation, distinct from the Attorney-General or any other
law officer of the Executive branch, for the conduct of this matter.
An order for costs in the cause