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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The legal basis of emergency powers in Zambia |
Author: | Chanda, A.W. |
Year: | 1986 |
Periodical: | Zambia Law Journal |
Volume: | 18 |
Pages: | 19-34 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Zambia Central Africa |
Subjects: | state of emergency law constitutional law Zambia. Emergency Powers Act Zambia. Preservation of Public Security Act Liberty |
Abstract: | In some circumstances it becomes imperative for a government to assume extraordinary or emergency powers in order to deal with problems of national security. In Africa, emergency powers have been extensively used and have become the rule rather than the exception. Zambia has been under a semi state of emergency since July 27th, 1964. Emergency powers, more particularly the power to detain, have been widely used over the years to deal with people involved in both political and economic crimes. This article examines the salient features of emergency statutes in Zambia (the Emergency Powers Act and the Preservation of Public Security Act) and the extent to which the executive or any other governmental functionary has autonomous power to make emergency or security regulations during the subsistence of a declared public emergency. The full range of emergency powers conferred on the executive by the emergency statutes, particularly the powers of detention and restriction, is also analysed in some detail. The conclusion is that the exercise of emergency powers in Zambia by the executive, particulary the power of preventive detention, derogates fundamentally from the rule of law. Notes, ref. |