Politics
Filing Presidential Petition to Chief Justice’s Personal Email Invalid – Shalala
UPND consultant Oliver Shalala Sepiso has argued that a presidential election petition cannot be validly filed or served by sending it to the Chief Justice’s personal email address. Mr Shalala stated that presidential election petitions must be formally lodged through the Constitutional Court Registry
Picture: Zambian Observer
FILING PRESIDENTIAL PETITION TO CHIEF JUSTICE’S PERSONAL EMAIL INVALID – SHALALA
UPND consultant Oliver Shalala Sepiso has argued that a presidential election petition cannot be validly filed or served by sending it to the Chief Justice’s personal email address.
Mr Shalala stated that presidential election petitions must be formally lodged through the Constitutional Court Registry or other authorised court filing channels.
He explained that court rules require specific administrative procedures, including official registration and payment of prescribed fees, for a petition to be recognised as validly filed.
“A presidential election petition cannot be validly filed or served by sending it to the Chief Justice’s personal or private email address,” Mr Shalala said.
He stressed that sending documents to a judge’s or Chief Justice’s private inbox bypasses the court registrar and does not provide the official recognition required for a legal filing.
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“Sending documents to a judge’s or the Chief Justice’s private inbox bypasses the court registrar and lacks official recognition,” he stated.
Mr Shalala further emphasised that personal email accounts cannot guarantee proper tracking, logging, monitoring or proof of receipt, particularly where constitutional deadlines are involved.
He said closure or disruption of court operations does not automatically make informal filing through private email legally compliant unless authorised by the court.
“Even when physical court access is disrupted or closed, informal transmission to a personal email does not automatically cure non-compliance with mandatory statutory filing procedures,” Mr Shalala emphasised.
He further argued that presidential election petitions fall under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, which has its own president and questioned the decision to send such documents to the Chief Justice.
“Left unchecked, next time we shall hear someone filing by WhatsApp, Facebook etc,” he warned.
Source: Zambian Observer — Read more
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