Zambia Independence Act 1964
| Year | 1964 |
Zambia IndependenceAct 1964
1964 CHAPTER 65
An Act to make provision for, and in connection with, the establishment of Northern Rhodesia, under the name of Zambia, as an independent republic within the Commonwealth.
[31st July 1964]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Establishment of Republic of Zambia.
1. On 24th October 1964 (in this Act referred to as ‘the appointed day’) the territories which immediately before the appointed day are comprised in Northern Rhodesia shall cease to be a protectorate and shall together become an independent republic under the name of Zambia; and on and after that day Her Majesty shall have no jurisdiction over those territories.
2 Operation of existing law.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Act, on and after the appointed day all law which, whether being a rule of law or a provision of an Act of Parliament or of any other enactment or instrument whatsoever, is in force on that day or has been passed or made before that day and comes into force thereafter, shall, unless and until provision to the contrary is made by Parliament or some other authority having power in that behalf, have the same operation in relation to Zambia, and persons and things belonging to or connected with Zambia, as it would have apart from this subsection if on the appointed day Northern Rhodesia had been renamed Zambia but there had been no change in its status.
(2) Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act (which relates to enactments applicable to Commonwealth countries having fully responsible status) and Part II of that Schedule (which relates to enactments excepted from the operation of the preceding subsection) shall have effect on and after the appointed day in relation to the enactments therein mentioned; but that Schedule shall not extend to Zambia as part of its law.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section applies to the law of, or of any part of, the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and, in relation only to any enactment of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or any Order in Council made by virtue of any such enactment whereby any such enactment applies in relation to Northern Rhodesia, to law of any other country or territory to which that enactment or Order extends.
3 Consequential modifications of British Nationality Acts.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (5) of this section, the British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1964 shall have effect on and after the appointed day as if in section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1948 (Commonwealth countries having separate citizenship) there were added at the end the words ‘and Zambia’, and as if—
(a ) in Schedule 1 to the British Protectorates, Protected States and Protected Persons Order in Council 1949 the words ‘Northern Rhodesia’ were omitted, and
(b ) the paragraph set out in Schedule 2 to this Act were substituted for paragraph (b ) of section 74(1) of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Dissolution) Order in Council 1963.
(2) A person who, immediately before the appointed day, is for the purposes of those Acts and of the said Order in Council of 1949 a British protected person by virtue of his connection with Northern Rhodesia shall not cease to be such a British protected person for any of those purposes by reason of anything contained in the preceding provisions of this Act, but shall so cease upon his becoming a citizen of Zambia.
(3) Except as provided by section 4 of this Act, any person who immediately before the appointed day is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall on that day cease to be such a citizen if he becomes on that day a citizen of Zambia.
(4) Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1948 (registration as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies of women who have been married to such citizens) shall not apply to a woman by virtue of her marriage to a person who on the appointed day ceases to be such a citizen under subsection (3) of this section, or who would have done so if living on the appointed day.
(5) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall affect the meaning of ‘protectorate’ in any law or instrument passed or made before the passing of this Act, not being a law or instrument contained in or made under any of the British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1964.
4 Retention of citizenship of United Kingdom and Colonies by certain citizens of Zambia.
(1) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, a person shall not cease to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under section 3(3) of this Act if he, his father or his father's father—
(a ) was born in the United Kingdom or in a colony; or
(b ) is or was a person naturalised in the United Kingdom and Colonies; or
(c ) was registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies; or
(d ) became a British subject by reason of the annexation of any territory included in a colony.
(2) A person shall not cease to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under the said section 3(3) if either—
(a ) he was born in a protectorate or protected state, or
(b ) his father or his father's father was so born and is or at any time was a British subject.
(3) A woman who is the wife of a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall not cease to be such a citizen under the said section 3(3) unless her husband does so.
(4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, the reference in subsection (1)(b ) of this section to a person naturalised in the United Kingdom and Colonies shall include a person who would, if living immediately before the commencement of the British Nationality Act 1948, have become a person naturalised in the United Kingdom and Colonies by virtue of section 32(6) of that Act (persons given local naturalisation in a colony or protectorate before the commencement of that Act).
(5) Any reference in this section to a colony, a protectorate or a protected state is a reference to a territory which is a colony, a protectorate or a protected state, as the case may be, within the meaning of the British Nationality Act 1948, on the appointed day, and accordingly does not include a reference to Zambia; and subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a person by virtue of any certificate of naturalisation granted or registration effected by the governor or government of a territory outside the United Kingdom which is not such a colony, protectorate or protected state on the appointed day.
(6) Part III of the British Nationality Act 1948 (supplemental provisions) shall have effect for the purposes of this section as if this section were included in that Act.
5 Judicial Committee of Privy Council.
(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council confer on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council such jurisdiction and powers in respect of appeals from any court having jurisdiction under the law of Zambia as may be specified in, or determined in accordance with any provisions contained in, the Order in Council.
(2) Any Order in Council under this section may contain such incidental and supplemental provisions as appear to Her Majesty to be expedient.
(3) Except so far as otherwise provided by or in accordance with an Order in Council under this section, and subject to such modifications as may be so provided, the Judicial Committee Act 1833 shall apply in relation to appeals and other proceedings in respect of which any jurisdiction is conferred under this section as it applies in relation to appeals to Her Majesty in Council.
(4) Provisions made in pursuance of this section may be included in any Order in Council revoking the Northern Rhodesia (Constitution) Order in Council 1963, as amended by any subsequent Order in Council.
(5) An Order in Council under this section may be made before, on or after the appointed day, and so much of any Order in Council as is made under this section may be varied or revoked by a further Order in Council, whether made before, on or after that day; but any Order in Council made under this section on or after the appointed day shall not extend to Zambia as part of its law.
6 Pending appeals to Her Majesty in Council.
(1) Without prejudice to any power conferred by or under section 5 of this Act, Her Majesty may by Order in Council confer on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council such jurisdiction in respect of appeals to Her Majesty in Council from the Court of Appeal for Northern Rhodesia, being appeals which are pending immediately before the appointed day, and in which the records have been registered in the Office of the Privy Council before that day, as appears to Her to be appropriate for giving effect to any arrangements to which this subsection applies.
(2) The preceding subsection applies to any arrangements—
(a ) made before the appointed day between Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Government of Northern Rhodesia, or
(b ) made on or after the appointed day between Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Government of Zambia,
for any such appeals to be continued before and disposed of by the said Committee.
(3) An Order in Council under this section may, if the arrangements so require, direct that any appeal...
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