In Zambia, statutes provide that penalties that are to be paid for fines arising from legal proceedings are quoted in terms of standardised units. The standardised unit is set by the Penalties and Fines Act. The value of a unit can be adjusted to account for inflation, and thereby retain the fines’ deterrent and punitive effects. It is much easier to change the fines to account for inflation: instead of going to Parliament to revise fines (environmental and otherwise), it can be done by way of a Statutory Instrument.
For more information, contact the Zambian Ministry of Justice at + 260-1-252047/1588/2045/2060.