Ansvar-Systems

Zambian Law MCP Server

Community Ansvar-Systems
Updated

MCP server for Zambian legislation

Zambian Law MCP Server

The Zambia Law Development Commission alternative for the AI age.

npm versionMCP RegistryLicenseGitHub starsCIDatabaseProvisions

Query 1,114 Zambian statutes -- from the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 and Penal Code Chapter 87 to the Employment Code Act, Companies Act, and more -- directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

If you're building legal tech, compliance tools, or doing Zambian legal research, this is your verified reference database.

Built by Ansvar Systems -- Stockholm, Sweden

Why This Exists

Zambian legal research means navigating zambialii.org, parliament.gov.zm, and zla.org.zm (Zambia Law Development Commission). Whether you're:

  • A lawyer validating citations in a brief or contract
  • A compliance officer checking obligations under the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021
  • A legal tech developer building tools on Zambian law
  • A researcher tracing provisions across 1,114 statutes spanning Chapters and Acts

...you shouldn't need dozens of browser tabs and manual PDF cross-referencing. Ask Claude. Get the exact provision. With context.

This MCP server makes Zambian law searchable, cross-referenceable, and AI-readable.

Quick Start

Use Remotely (No Install Needed)

Connect directly to the hosted version -- zero dependencies, nothing to install.

Endpoint: https://zambian-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp

Client How to Connect
Claude.ai Settings > Connectors > Add Integration > paste URL
Claude Code claude mcp add zambian-law --transport http https://zambian-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp
Claude Desktop Add to config (see below)
GitHub Copilot Add to VS Code settings (see below)

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zambian-law": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://zambian-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot -- add to VS Code settings.json:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
    "zambian-law": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://zambian-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Use Locally (npm)

npx @ansvar/zambian-law-mcp

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonWindows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zambian-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/zambian-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor / VS Code:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "zambian-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/zambian-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Example Queries

Once connected, just ask naturally:

  • "What does the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 say about personal data processing?"
  • "Find provisions in the Penal Code Chapter 87 on fraud"
  • "What are the employer obligations under the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019?"
  • "Search for labour rights under Zambian law"
  • "Is the Competition and Consumer Protection Act still in force?"
  • "What does the Companies Act No. 10 of 2017 say about director duties?"
  • "Validate the citation 'Section 21, Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021'"
  • "Build a legal stance on data breach notification obligations under Zambian law"
  • "Find provisions on money laundering in the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act"

What's Included

Category Count Details
Statutes 1,114 statutes Comprehensive Zambian legislation
Provisions 9,469 sections Full-text searchable with FTS5
Database Size ~17 MB Optimized SQLite, portable
Data Sources zambialii.org Zambia Legal Information Institute
Language English Official statute language of Zambia
Freshness Checks Automated Drift detection against official sources

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources (Zambia LII, Parliament of Zambia). Zero LLM-generated content.

See It In Action

Why This Works

Verbatim Source Text (No LLM Processing):

  • All statute text is ingested from zambialii.org official publications
  • Provisions are returned unchanged from SQLite FTS5 database rows
  • Zero LLM summarization or paraphrasing -- the database contains statute text, not AI interpretations

Smart Context Management:

  • Search returns ranked provisions with BM25 scoring (safe for context)
  • Provision retrieval gives exact text by statute name and section number
  • Cross-references help navigate without loading everything at once

Technical Architecture:

zambialii.org --> Parse --> SQLite --> FTS5 snippet() --> MCP response
                   ^                        ^
            Provision parser         Verbatim database query

Traditional Research vs. This MCP

Traditional Approach This MCP Server
Search Zambia LII by Act name or Chapter Search by plain English: "data protection consent"
Navigate multi-section statutes manually Get the exact provision with context
Manual cross-referencing between Acts build_legal_stance aggregates across sources
"Is this statute still in force?" -- check manually check_currency tool -- answer in seconds
Find international alignment -- dig manually get_eu_basis -- linked frameworks instantly
No API, no integration MCP protocol -- AI-native

Traditional: Browse Zambia LII --> Navigate Chapter index --> Ctrl+F --> Cross-reference SADC frameworks --> Repeat

This MCP: "What are Zambia's data protection requirements under the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021?" --> Done.

Available Tools (13)

Core Legal Research Tools (8)

Tool Description
search_legislation FTS5 full-text search across 9,469 provisions with BM25 ranking
get_provision Retrieve specific provision by statute name and section number
validate_citation Validate citation against database -- zero-hallucination check
build_legal_stance Aggregate citations from multiple statutes for a legal topic
format_citation Format citations per Zambian legal conventions (full/short/pinpoint)
check_currency Check if a statute is in force, amended, or repealed
list_sources List all available statutes with metadata and data provenance
about Server info, capabilities, dataset statistics, and coverage summary

International Law Integration Tools (5)

Tool Description
get_eu_basis Get international frameworks that a Zambian statute aligns with
get_zambian_implementations Find Zambian laws aligning with a specific international framework
search_eu_implementations Search international documents with Zambian alignment counts
get_provision_eu_basis Get international law references for a specific provision
validate_eu_compliance Check alignment status of Zambian statutes against international standards

International Law Alignment

Zambia is not an EU member state, but Zambian legislation aligns with key international frameworks:

  • Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 aligns with SADC Model Law on Data Protection and shares core GDPR principles -- consent, purpose limitation, data subject rights, breach notification
  • SADC membership means Zambian trade and commercial law aligns with the SADC Treaty framework and Protocol on Trade
  • African Union membership connects Zambian law to the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention)
  • Commonwealth membership means Zambian common law draws on shared precedents with UK, Australian, Canadian, and other Commonwealth jurisdictions
  • Employment Code Act reflects ILO core conventions on fundamental labour rights

Zambia's legal system follows a common law tradition (English common law as received law) combined with statutory legislation enacted by Parliament.

The international alignment tools allow you to explore these relationships -- checking which Zambian provisions correspond to international standards, and vice versa.

Note: Zambia is not an EU member state. International cross-references reflect alignment and shared principles, not direct transposition. Verify compliance obligations against the specific applicable framework for your jurisdiction.

Data Sources & Freshness

All content is sourced from authoritative Zambian legal databases:

Data Provenance

Field Value
Authority Zambia Legal Information Institute / Parliament of Zambia
Retrieval method Official statute downloads from zambialii.org
Language English
Coverage 1,114 statutes, 9,469 provisions
Database size ~17 MB

Automated Freshness Checks

A GitHub Actions workflow monitors all data sources:

Check Method
Statute amendments Drift detection against known provision anchors
New statutes Comparison against parliament.gov.zm index
Repealed statutes Status change detection

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources. Zero LLM-generated content.

Security

This project uses multiple layers of automated security scanning:

Scanner What It Does Schedule
CodeQL Static analysis for security vulnerabilities Weekly + PRs
Semgrep SAST scanning (OWASP top 10, secrets, TypeScript) Every push
Gitleaks Secret detection across git history Every push
Trivy CVE scanning on filesystem and npm dependencies Daily
Socket.dev Supply chain attack detection PRs
Dependabot Automated dependency updates Weekly

See SECURITY.md for the full policy and vulnerability reporting.

Important Disclaimers

Legal Advice

THIS TOOL IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Statute text is sourced from official Zambian legal publications (Zambia LII, Parliament of Zambia). However:

  • This is a research tool, not a substitute for professional legal counsel
  • Court case coverage is not included -- do not rely solely on this for case law research
  • Verify critical citations against primary sources for court filings
  • International cross-references reflect alignment relationships, not direct transposition
  • Subsidiary legislation (statutory instruments, regulations) has limited coverage -- verify completeness

Before using professionally, read: DISCLAIMER.md | SECURITY.md

Client Confidentiality

Queries go through the Claude API. For privileged or confidential matters, use on-premise deployment. Consult the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) guidance on client confidentiality obligations.

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/Zambian-law-mcp
cd Zambian-law-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Running Locally

npm run dev                                       # Start MCP server
npx @anthropic/mcp-inspector node dist/index.js   # Test with MCP Inspector

Data Management

npm run ingest           # Ingest statutes from zambialii.org
npm run build:db         # Rebuild SQLite database
npm run drift:detect     # Run drift detection against anchors
npm run check-updates    # Check for amendments and new statutes
npm run census           # Generate coverage census

Performance

  • Search Speed: <100ms for most FTS5 queries
  • Database Size: ~17 MB (efficient, portable)
  • Reliability: 100% ingestion success rate across 1,114 statutes

Related Projects: Complete Compliance Suite

This server is part of Ansvar's Compliance Suite -- MCP servers that work together for end-to-end compliance coverage:

@ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

Query 49 EU regulations directly from Claude -- GDPR, AI Act, DORA, NIS2, MiFID II, eIDAS, and more. Full regulatory text with article-level search. npx @ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/security-controls-mcp

Query 261 security frameworks -- ISO 27001, NIST CSF, SOC 2, CIS Controls, SCF, and more. npx @ansvar/security-controls-mcp

@ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

Query US federal and state compliance laws -- HIPAA, CCPA, SOX, GLBA, FERPA, and more. npx @ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/sanctions-mcp

Offline-capable sanctions screening -- OFAC, EU, UN sanctions lists. pip install ansvar-sanctions-mcp

108 national law MCPs covering Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, Australia, UK, Canada, and more.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Priority areas:

  • Court case law expansion (Supreme Court and High Court decisions)
  • Statutory instruments and subsidiary legislation
  • Historical statute versions and amendment tracking
  • Zambia Law Development Commission reports integration

Roadmap

  • Core statute database with FTS5 search
  • Full corpus ingestion (1,114 statutes, 9,469 provisions)
  • International law alignment tools (SADC, AU, Commonwealth)
  • Vercel Streamable HTTP deployment
  • npm package publication
  • Supreme Court and High Court case law
  • Statutory instruments and subsidiary legislation
  • Historical statute versions (amendment tracking)
  • SADC framework cross-references

Citation

If you use this MCP server in academic research:

@software{zambian_law_mcp_2026,
  author = {Ansvar Systems AB},
  title = {Zambian Law MCP Server: AI-Powered Legal Research Tool},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/Zambian-law-mcp},
  note = {1,114 Zambian statutes with 9,469 provisions}
}

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Data Licenses

  • Statutes & Legislation: Parliament of Zambia / Zambia LII (open access)
  • International Metadata: Public domain

About Ansvar Systems

We build AI-accelerated compliance and legal research tools for the global market. This MCP server started as our internal reference tool for Southern African legal research -- turns out everyone building compliance tools for the SADC region has the same research frustrations.

So we're open-sourcing it. Navigating 1,114 Zambian statutes shouldn't require a law degree.

ansvar.eu -- Stockholm, Sweden

Built with care in Stockholm, Sweden

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