OVER TWO DECADES OF EXISTENCE OF THE LANDS TRIBUNAL IN ZAMBIA: Review of Progress and Challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48346/IMIST.PRSM/ajlp-gs.v7i1.44429Keywords:
Land conflicts, lands tribunal, specialised land courtAbstract
Context and Background:
The specialised land court in Zambia is known as the Lands Tribunal, and it was created in 1996 through the 1995 Lands Act. The Tribunal was established with the objective of achieving speedy, low cost, flexible and efficient means of settling conflicts over land. Inspite of being existence for 27 years, little has been done on the progress and challenges of the Lands Tribunal in resolving conflicts over land in the country.
Goal and Objectives:
This paper aims at establishing the progress made by the Lands Tribunal in resolving conflicts over land and investigating the challenges faced by the Lands Tribunal in resolving conflicts over land.
Methodology:
The study incorporated the use of both primary and secondary data collected between January and October 2023. Secondary data were obtained through documents which include peer-reviewed journal articles, theses, books, media, Zambian land laws, and technical reports. Secondary data was supplemented by primary data obtained from three purposively selected institutions: Lands Tribunal, Law Association of Zambia, and Zambia Land Alliance (Kitwe office). The data collection method used with the key informants was in-depth face-to-face interviews. Office management at each institution chose the key informant based on their expertise and experience on the subject.
Results:
In order to strengthen the Tribunal’s operations, the Lands Tribunal Act of 2010 was enacted, enhancing the Tribunal’s operations by granting it more authority and responsibilities (that is, expanding jurisdiction). Research findings showed that between 2014 and 2023, the Lands Tribunal handled 3318 cases. According to research findings, if the Tribunal was operating efficiently and effectively, it could have handled more than 3,318 cases between 2014 and 2022 considering the numerous problems facing the general courts which adversely affect the general public to resolve their land conflicts. However, the Tribunal could not handle more cases because of various challenges which include inadequate funding, Inadequate staff, poor conditions of service for members of the Tribunal, inadequate transport, delay in the delivery of judgments, low public awareness of the Lands Tribunal, centralised operations of the Lands Tribunal, and forum shopping.
References
Banda, J. (2019). Access to Justice: Court Efficiency in Zambia. Occasional paper series of the Institute for African Development, Cornell University.
Chilufya, B. (2008). The Relevance of the Lands Tribunal in the Resolution of Land Disputes. Unpublished LLB Thesis. The University of Zambia, Lusaka.
Economic Commission for Africa (2022). Guidelines on Prevention and Addressing Land-Based Conflicts in Africa. Addis Ababa: Economic Commission for Africa.
Gramckow, H and Walsh, B. (2013). Developing Specialized Court Services International Experiences and Lessons Learned. Washington DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
GRZ (2002). The National Decentralisation Policy. Lusaka: Cabinet Office.
GRZ (2010). Lands Tribunal Act No. 39 of 2010. Lusaka; Government Printers.
GRZ (2021). Report of the Committee on Legal affairs, Human Rights, National Guidance, Gender Matters and Governance for the Fifth Session of the Twelfth National Assembly. Lusaka: National Assembly of Zambia.
Kalabamu, F.T. (2021). Land Conflicts and Alternative Dispute Resolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Botswana. In: Home, R. (eds) Land Issues for Urban Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Local and Urban Governance. Springer, Cham.
Mushinge, A. (2017a). Assessment of the Lands Tribunal in resolving state land conflicts in Zambia. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 7 (18), pp.16-23.
Mushinge, A. (2017b). Role of Land Governance in Improving Tenure Security in Zambia: Towards a Strategic Framework for Preventing Land Conflicts. PhD Dissertation. Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Muyunda, G.M. (2012). The Assessment and Impact of the Lands Tribunal in Resolving Land Disputes under the New Legislative Framework. Unpublished LLB Thesis. The University of Zambia, Lusaka.
News Diggers (23 October 2023). Muchima warns PF: Mwanya ba Kabwalala, you were illegally giving land. Available at https://diggers.news/local/2023/10/23/muchima-warns-pf-mwanya-ba-kabwalala-you-were-illegally-giving-land/ [cited 9 November 2023].
Pring, G.R. and Pring, C.K. (2009). Greening Justice; Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals. Washington DC: World Resources Institute.
Unah, I and Ryan Williams, R (2018). What is so special about Specialized Courts in the United States? In Routledge Handbook of Judicial Behavior, eds. Robert M. Howard and Kirk A. Randazzo. New York, NY: Routledge Inc.
United Nations (2012). Land and Conflict: Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural Resources Conflict. New York: United Nations.
Wehrmann, B. (2008). Land conflicts: A practical guide to dealing with land disputes. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn, Germany.
Wehrmann, B. (2017). Understanding, Preventing and solving Land Conflicts: A Practical Guide and Toolkit. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn, Germany.
Zambia Land Alliance (2005). The Role of the Lands Tribunal in Handling Land Disputes in General and Traditional Land in Particular. Lusaka: Zambia Land Alliance.
Zimmer, M.B. (2009). Overview of Specialized Courts. International Journal for Court Administration, pp. 1-15.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences (AJLP&GS) is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. Authors with free access retain the copyright of their manuscripts. All open access manuscripts are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that applicable laws and regulations do not protect these names. Even though the advice and information in this journal are true and accurate as of the date of its publication, neither the authors, the editor, nor the publisher can assume any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions.
