Acts of Parliament Act, 1964

Jurisdiction: Zambia
Citation: Chapter 3
Date: 31 December 1996
Language: English
Type: Legislation
Download: Download PDF (189.9 KB)

Zambia

Acts of Parliament Act, 1964

Chapter 3

Commenced on 24 October 1964
[This is the version of this document at 31 December 1996.]

[64 of 1964]An Act to provide for the form and commencement of Acts; to provide for the procedure following the perusing of Bills; and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Acts of Parliament Act.

2. Enactments to be styled "Acts"

All laws made by Parliament shall be styled "Acts".

3. Words of enactment

(1)The provisions of every Act shall be prefaced by the words of enactment specified in the First Schedule.

(2)The words of enactment shall be taken to extend to all sections of the Act and to any Schedules, tables and other provisions contained therein.

4. Sections and subsections

Where an Act contains more than one enactment, it shall be divided into sections and sections containing more than one enactment shall be divided into subsections.

5. Preparation of presentation copies

(1)As soon as a Bill has been passed by the National Assembly, the Clerk of the National Assembly shall cause the text of the Bill as passed to be sent to the Government Printer who shall print four copies thereof on vellum or on paper of enduring quality and send the copies as printed to the Clerk.

(2)As soon as may be after a Bill has been received by the Clerk of the National Assembly in pursuance of the provision of subsection (1), the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker or, in their absence or if they are unable to act, the Clerk of the National Assembly shall—

(a)cause to be made in the said copies such corrections as relate to misprints, typographical errors and wrong references, if any, as are necessary;

(b)carefully compare the said copies with the text of the Bill as passed and if he finds them to be correct sign on each copy a statement in the form set out in the Second Schedule; and

(c)cause the said copies to be presented to the President for assent.

(3)Where a special Bill is passed in the National Assembly after having been supported on second and third readings by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the Assembly, the Speaker, or the Deputy Speaker if the Speaker is absent or otherwise unable to act shall, before the Bill is presented to the President for his assent, insert in the Bill in whatever form he considers appropriate a certificate that the Bill was passed after having been so supported.

(4)For the purposes of this section "special Bill" means a Bill for an Act which is required by the Constitution to be supported in the manner described in subsection (3) before it may be passed in the National Assembly.

6. The assent

(1)The President shall signify that he assents to a Bill by signing on each copy of the Bill prepared in accordance with the provisions of section five, a statement to that effect in the form set out in the Third Schedule.

(2)A Bill shall become an Act on the signature by the President of the first of the said copies.

7. Numbering

(1)Acts shall be numbered consecutively in the order in which they become Acts and the numbering shall begin afresh at the commencement of a calendar year.

(2)As soon as the President has signed a copy of an Act under the provisions of section six, the Clerk shall cause the number of the Act to be entered on the copy so signed.

8. Original copies

(1)Whenever the procedure set out in sections five, six and seven purports to have been followed in relation to copies of an Act, the copies shall be deemed to be the original copies of the Act and shall be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.

(2)Two of the original copies of every Act shall be retained by the President who shall cause one each of the remaining copies to be deposited with the Speaker and the Director of National Archives of Zambia, appointed under the National Archives Act.[Cap. 175]

9. Publication

Every Act shall be published by the Government Printer as soon as may be after the President's assent has been signified, and shall be so published—

(a)with the omission of the statements contained in the original copies by virtue of the provisions of sections five and six;

(b)with the insertion of a statement of the date on which the President's assent was signified, and the date of commencement;

(c)where appropriate, with the inclusion of any certificate given in pursuance of the provisions of subsection (3) of section five.

10. Commencement

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, the commencement of an Act shall be such date as is provided in or under the Act, or where no date is so provided, the date of its publication as notified in the Gazette.

(2)Every Act shall be deemed to come into force immediately on the expiration of the day next preceding its commencement.

(3)A provision in an Act regulating the coming into force of the Act or any part thereof shall have effect notwithstanding that the part of the Act containing the provision has not come into operation.

(4)Where an Act is made with retrospective effect, the commencement of the Act shall be the date from which it is given or deemed to be given such effect.

(5)The provisions of subsection (4) shall not apply to an Act until there is a notification in the Gazette as to the date of its publication and until such date is specified the Act shall be without effect.

First Schedule (Section 3)

Words of Enactment

ENACTED by the Parliament of Zambia.

Second Schedule (Section 5)

Form of authentication statement

This printed impression has been carefully compared by me with the Bill which has passed the National assembly, and found by me to be a true and correctly printed copy of the said Bill.SignedSpeaker/Deputy Speaker/Clerk of the National AssemblyDate of Authentication:

Third Schedule (Section 6)

Form of statement of the President's assent

I hereby signify my assent to the Bill.Signed _______________PresidentDate of Assent:

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History of this document

31 December 1996 this version

Consolidation

24 October 1964

Commenced