On 23 November 2018, the Supreme Court of Zambia delivered a judgement which suggests that Zambian judges have virtually unbridled power to move on their own motion to punish for contempt of court anyone who criticises their judicial decisions. This article considers that judgement. It argues that whilst justice might well have been done in the case in question, it was certainly not seen to be done. Two main reasons are given for this argument. First, the judges appeared to have acted both as prosecutors and adjudicators in their own cause when it was neither urgent nor imperative to act immediately on their own motion. Second, the classification by the Court of the contempt in question as civil contempt rather than criminal contempt is alien to the common law world. The article culminates in a clarion call for the Zambian legislature to intervene and clarify the law of contempt of court to avert capricious and unbridled invocation of the judicial power to punish for contempt.

2018年11月23日，赞比亚最高法院作出一项判决，表明赞比亚法官实际上具有不受限制的权力，可以动议自己的动议，以对con视法庭判决的任何人进行惩罚。本文认为该判断。它辩称，尽管在该案中很可能已经做到了司法公正，但肯定没有做到这一点。给出该论证的两个主要原因。首先，当法官既没有紧迫感也没有必要立即按照自己的动议采取行动时，法官似乎是出于自己的原因而担任检察官和审判员。第二，法院对有关con视法庭的轻蔑归类为民事轻蔑，而不是刑事轻蔑，这与普通法界无关。