The Attorney - General v The Local Government Election Commission ((1992/HP/2184) ) [1992] ZMHC 2 (14 October 1992);

The Attorney-General sought an order that reg. 10 of the Local Government Election Regulations contained in SI No. 111 of 1992 and providing that all election candidates should have attained an education level of Grade VII or equivalent, was ultra vires the Local Government Elections Act which determined the qualifications for standing. At issue was (1) the interpretation of the extent of the Local Government Election Commission's powers to legislate and (2) the relationship between subsidiary legislation  and the enabling Acts of Parliament.

Held:

1. The Local Government Election Commission is empowered to legislate procedural rules and these powers do not extent to substantive law such as the conditions for candidacy. 
2. The Local Government Elections Act does not make literacy a condition for candidacy, therefore a regulation creating such a condition is ultra vires the Act and of no legal effect.