LAZ clarifies on hiked Legal Practitioners’ costs

LAZ President Linda Kasonde – Pic by Lazarous Sichula

The Law Association of Zambia has clarified that the fees stated in Statutory Instrument no.6 of 2017 on legal practitioners’ costs are expressions in fee units and not in Kwacha denomination as reported in some sections of the media.

In a statement, LAZ President Linda Kasonde says it’s common knowledge that for any figure to be called a sum of money in Zambian Kwacha, the prefix or symbol “ZMW of the letter K” precedes the figure.

Ms Kasonde says a closer scrutiny of the published SI reveals that neither the prefix ZMW nor the letter K appear anywhere in the SI.

She says following the publication of the Statutory Instrument, the LAZ Council as well as the Remuneration Committee of LAZ noted that there was an omission of the word “fee unit” below the words applicable scale on pages 17 to 21 of the SI and under the words “Minimum Fees and Maximum Fees on page 22 thereof.

Ms Kasonde states that LAZ has since engaged the Ministry of Justice to correct the omission, which occurred at printing stage of the SI.

She adds that the SI in question was formulated by the Remuneration Committee of LAZ in consultation with the Ministry of Justice’s Legislative Department and the office of the Attorney General over five years in order to ensure that interests of the public are taken into account when adjusting the fees.