The Law Association of Zambia(LAZ) must rise above petty politics they are currently pursuing to curb lawlessness among its members and restore its credibility, former Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Edward Mumbi has said.

Mr Mumbi said he was appalled at the irrational and gross misconduct of lawyers displayed following the dismissal of the London judgment by the High Court of Zambia.

"If there is any integrity remaining in the current leadership of LAZ, they should immediately curb this lawlessness among its lawyers and resotre its credibility by arresting this despicable conduct," Mr Mumbi said.

Mr Mumbi said this in a statement yesterday in reaction to lawyer Rodger Chongwe's attack on Judge Evans Hamaundu because of his judgment on the registration of the London High Court judgment against former president Frederick Chiluba.

He said LAZ should rise above petty politics and stop its members from issuing unacceptable statements.

It was unacceptable in a democracy for Dr Chongwe to insult the judiciary because that could promote anarchy and lawlessness.

He said the London judgment against Dr Chiluba stood discredited as the Court of Appeal in that country established that the judgment did not meet minimum standards of a court trial.

Mr Mumbi also said Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should gather facts relating to the matter before issuing any statements.

He said it was strange for some CSOs to anchor their arguments on a discredited judgment by making a systematic private media campaign to discredit the judiciary.

Zambians should rise to defend democratic institutions established by the constitution because they risked being undermined.

Meanwhile, the Forum for Progressive Politics has said the British government must apologise to the Zambian people for sponsoring a defective and highly malicious anti-corruption campaign that had created injustice, division and despondency in the country.

The organisation's general secretary Charles Kafumbo said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that Zambia had been dehumanised by having its people lose faith in the country's governance systems, including the judiciary in order to subscribe to the British dictates.

Mr Kafumbo said the Government should expose and launch prosecutions to recover all the public funds allegedly looted from public coffers in the name of the campaign as revealed by the recent report of the Auditor General (AG).

Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) chairperson David Masupa said that people commenting on Dr Chiluba's London judgment should first check facts and laws before issuing statements.

And commenting on the current debate, lawyer Elias Chipimo said the comments were not an attack on the judiciary but people were merely asking for clarification.

Mr Chipimo said there was a wider implication on the issue because there were some investors who may have similar cases that they would want registered in Zambia.

He said that although LAZ has taken a position it was its duty and it was also seeking a clarification, which could only be done in the Supreme Court.