Mehluli Malisa Batakathi

LLM, LLB, Bsc.(HONS), ACIArb, ASCZ

+260 966 710029

mehluli@malisaandpartners.law

Professional Bio

Mehluli Malisa Batakathi is an Advocate of the Superior Courts in Zambia and currently the Managing Partner at Malisa and Partners Legal Practitioners. Having interfaced with the law for over 5 years with a background in Engineering, he is affluent in the knowledge of the law and has amassed a wealth of experience in law firm and client management; this forms the solid basis on which Malisa and Partners Legal Practitioners is founded.

As an advocate, Mehluli is passionate about constitutionalism, the rule of law and human rights, protection of the environment, climate justice, accountability and transparency. Because of these interests, he has engaged in a significant number of matters in the Constitutional Court bordering on the electoral system, elections, separation of powers and good governance. He is an avid believer in the role of the legal profession in the conservation agenda and the pursuit of sustainable development. Notable amongst the cases he has been spearheading are the efforts to halt mining in the Lower Zambezi National Park and commercial farming on the outskirts of the Kasanka National Park.

Aside from being the Managing partner at Malisa and Partners, he is also the Co-founder of Conservation Advocates Zambia (CAZ), a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to use the law as a tool for environmental conservation and climate justice.

Educational and Work Experience

Mehluli holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Constitutional Law, a BSc. (HONS) in Land and Water Resources Management and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. He served as President of the Zambian Open University Students’ Union (ZAOUSU) from 2015 to 2016, Recruitment and Selection Co-ordinator for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Centre –Southern Africa Zambia Chapter Committee from 2019 to 2020. Currently he is a part-time lecturer at the University of Zambia teaching Constitutional and Administrative Law and is also the Lusaka Provincial Chapter Coordinator for the Zambia United States Exchanges Alumni Association (ZUEA) and the Convenor (Chairperson) of the Law Association of Zambia’s Public Interest and Human Rights Committee and a member of the Climate Change Taskforce of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ). He is also on the Panel of Experts for the South African based Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and also serves as the Director of Strategic Litigation at the Institute of Law, Policy, Research and Human Rights (ILPHR). Mehluli is also a fellow of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program specialised in Law and Human Rights.