The Criminal Justice System in Zambia

This 2009 policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies evaluates the criminal justice system in Zambia, identifying systemic weaknesses across policing, prosecution, the judiciary, and prison services. The document highlights a critical dichotomy between the constitutionally recognised legal system and the widely used customary law, alongside pervasive issues of underfunding, capacity shortages, and human rights abuses.

• Zambia faces a high and increasing crime rate, with corruption described as 'all pervasive' across government and society, particularly affecting public service delivery and the electoral process. Oversight bodies like the Ombudsman, Parliament, the Auditor-General, and the Anti-Corruption Commission are ineffective due to being 'underresourced and underskilled'.
• The Zambia Police Service suffers from severe operational capacity gaps, operating with 13,000 officers, which is 'less than half of the required strength'. This shortage, combined with a lack of forensic capacity and poor investigative skills, leads to low successful prosecution rates. Despite training, human rights abuses—specifically the use of excessive force—remain high, leaving over half of adult Zambians dissatisfied with police performance.
• Prosecutorial services are weakened by a lack of independence for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who is vulnerable to political interference as part of the executive and is funded through the Ministry of Justice rather than Parliament. Additionally, most lower court prosecutions are conducted by police officers instead of lawyers.
• The judiciary is characterized by a severe shortage of judges, with only 40 serving a population of 12 million people. While high-level judges enjoy independence and security of tenure, the lower bench consists mostly of contracted officers with poor remuneration and conditions. Access to justice is further hindered by poverty, a lack of courts in rural areas, and a Legal Aid Board that lacks autonomy from the Ministry of Justice.
• There is a significant gap between formal and customary law; while the formal system is accessed by a few, the majority—primarily rural populations—rely on customary law. Traditional courts are preferred for being more democratic, efficient, and accessible, though they suffer from a lack of state-backed enforcement, gender-based discrimination, and a lack of recorded proceedings.
• The Zambia Prison Service is identified as the 'weakest link' in the justice system, facing extreme overcrowding. In the latter half of 2007, prisons held nearly 15,000 inmates despite a capacity of 4,000, with approximately 60 per cent of the population being remandees. This leads to inhumane conditions, including shortages of food and bedding, and a staff-to-inmate ratio of 1:8.
• Zambia has signed various international instruments on security and law enforcement but has failed to domesticate most of them, including the Convention against Torture. This is attributed to limited capacity in processing protocols and a lack of commitment.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2009). The Criminal Justice System in Zambia. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/POLBRF6.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. The Criminal Justice System in Zambia. 2009. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/POLBRF6.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=The Criminal Justice System in Zambia |date=July 2009 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/POLBRF6.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2009criminal, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{The Criminal Justice System in Zambia}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2009}, month = jul, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/POLBRF6.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }