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Green Party president, Peter Sinkamba, has filed a petition in the Constitutional Court, challenging the legality of President Hakainde Hichilema’s decision to suspend three judges based on a recommendation by the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC).
Sinkamba argued that the JCC’s decision to review its 2016 ruling, which cleared the judges of gross misconduct, contravenes Article 5(2) of the Constitution and is therefore illegal and void.
The original 2016 case involved the JCC’s review of complaints about the judges’ conduct during a presidential petition case.
Read More: Constitutional Court judges ask court to quash their suspension by president Hichilema
A majority ruling by Constitutional Court judges, including Justice Mugeni Mulenga, Sitali, and Mulonda, dismissed the petition for exceeding the 14-day constitutional timeframe.
However, Justices Hildah Chibomba and Professor Margaret Munalula dissented.
Following the petition, Sinkamba and other citizens raised concerns about the judges’ competence, prompting complaints to the JCC in 2016.
After a year of deliberation, the JCC ruled in 2017 that while there were inconsistencies in the judges’ handling of the case, they did not amount to gross misconduct or incompetence.
Sinkamba now contended that the JCC’s latest recommendation to suspend the three judges, based on the same facts, is a re-examination of a settled matter.
He argued that the JCC lacked the legal authority to review its own decision under Article 5(2) of the Constitution.
He also claimed that the differing treatment of the three suspended judges compared to the two dissenting judges is discriminatory, violating Articles 8(d) and (e) of the 2016 Constitution, Article 23(2) of the 1996 Constitution, and the Judicial Code of Conduct Act.
Sinkamba seeks a declaration that the JCC’s recommendation for the judges’ suspension was unlawful and requests an interim order to stay the suspension until the case is concluded.
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