THE Judiciary will soon have a boost in the number of adjudicators in Superior Courts that will answer to calls of “my lady” and “my lord” as they clear cases dating back to the 1990s to quicken the delivery of justice.
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Chief Government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa announced that Cabinet at the 12th meeting held on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Lusaka, approved a Bill to increase the number of Judges in order to address the backlog of cases.
During a media briefing, Mweetwa said Cabinet approved the Superior Courts ( Number of Judges) Bill 2025 to prescribe the number of judges for the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court.
He said the Superior Courts (Number of Judges) Act, No. 9 of 2016, provides for 60 judges of the High Court and 19 judges of the Court of Appeal.
“There is need to increase the number of High Court judges to 100 and the number of Court of Appeal judges to 31, so as to address the backlog of cases in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal,” he said.
Furthermore, Mweetwa said Cabinet also approved the Small Claims Court (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
He said the objective of the Bill was to revise the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court.
The minister stated that currently, the Small Claims Court, Cap. 47 of the Laws of Zambia, restricts the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court and does not respond to the prevailing times.
He said the restriction on the Small Claims Court has resulted in the Small Claims Court having a backlog of cases that can properly be dealt with by the Small Claims Court, considering the prevailing economic and social needs.
“The limited jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court coupled with other operational challenges and the need to align the legislation with other recently enacted laws, has necessitated the need to amend the Small Claims Court Act, Cap. 47,” he said.
Mweetwa added that, the Bill, once enacted, will result in the enhancement of the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, alignment of the Act with other existing legislation and reduction in the backlog of cases that are before the Subordinate Courts.
By Lucy Phiri
Kalemba July 4, 2025
