Bilika Simamba

I was called to the Zambian Bar in 1977 upon which I was appointed State Advocate in the Attorney General’s Chambers. In 1978 I joined the Legislative Drafting Department and eventually became Chief Parliamentary Draftsman (head of department) in 1987. After a four-year stint in the Legal Office of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (1988 to 1992) I returned to the Attorney General’s Chambers as a long-term legislative drafting consultant on the World Bank funded Financial and Legal Management Improvement Project for the next two years. Later I was Head of Legal Training at the National Institute of Public Administration teaching, among other subjects, constitutional law.

From 1997 to 1999 I was Principal Parliamentary Counsel in Guyana under the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation. I moved to the British Virgin Islands in 1999, still drafting legislation, and sometimes acting as Attorney General. Finally, I went to the Cayman Islands in 2003 where I retired as a Senior Legislative Counsel in 2015. I have designed and taught several short courses relating to the interpretation of statutes, legal drafting, legislative process, and judicial review.

During my career, I have undertaken short-term consultancies drafting legislation. I have also served as a member of the Council of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, and the Editorial Board for The Loophole.

I have published in peer-reviewed journals in legislative drafting and substantive areas of law in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and the Caribbean. Some of the more recent ones are as follows:

“The Plain Meaning Rule: A Quibble About Nomenclature and a Lot More” (2021) Statute Law Review, 1-14.

“The Plain Meaning Rule and Transitional Provisions in Legislation: Occasional Misunderstandings” (2021) Amicus Curiae, Series 2, Vol. 3, No. 1, 101-120.

“Introducing Constitutionally-Based Judicial Review: Drafting Issues (2017) (3) The Loophole 54-72.

“Proportionality as a constitutional ground of judicial review with special reference to human rights” (2016) 16(1) Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 125-159.

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Educational credentials

• L.L.B. Bachelor of Laws (University of Zambia)
• AHCZ - Advocate of the High Court for Zambia
• LL.M. - Master of Laws (University of Zambia)
• LL.M. - Master of Laws in Legislation (University of Ottawa)
• Attorney at Law, Cayman Islands, British West Indies