GOVERNMENT should make all cases bail-able in line with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty as proposed by the Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC), Economic Front president, Wynter Kabimba, has said.
The Zambia Law Development Commission proposed that all offences must be bailable in line with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
It submitted that the subordinate courts needed to be given the powers to vary the conditions if the case was before such a court.
Mr Kabimba said the recommendations were done in good faith and in countries like Malawi they had made provisions for cases like treason which was unbailable in Zambia to be bailable.
“For me I feel that as a country we are lagging behind because countries like Malawi have put in place laws that are not archaic and conform to the current happenings in society,” he said.
And Mr Kabimba said that the other recommendations that were progressive were those on the defamation of the President and arresting before investigation by the police.
He said it was good that the Commission had recommended that the provision be removed from the statute book because it was a civil matter which should be dealt with in a civil realm.
Mr Kabimba also said police needed to do thorough investigations before arresting suspected persons.
“The police must not arrest individuals before they complete their investigations and I will recommend that they get training to conduct their duties diligently,” he said.
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