PROFILE
Hon. Mr. Justice Evaristo Pengele is a Judge of the High Court. He was appointed to the High Court on 7th March, 2019. He was admitted to the Bar in 2007, after passing his Bar Examinations at First Sitting. Justice Pengele holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Zambia where he graduated with a Merit, as the Best Graduating Student and was awarded the Dean’s Prize for Academic Excellence for being the Best Graduating Student for the 2005 Academic Year. Justice Pengele also holds a Master of Laws Degree in Corporate and Commercial Law obtained in 2019 from the University of Lusaka after graduating as the Overall Best Graduating Student in the Master of Laws Programme. In 2012 Justice Pengele obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education where he was awarded a Certificate of Achievement for having graduated as the Overall Best Graduating Student. In 2017, Judge Pengele obtained a Certificate in Core Skills for Judges from the University of Cape Town.
Before his appointment as a Judge of the High Court, Justice Pengele served as Registrar of the Supreme Court and Special Assistant to the Chief Justice (Legal) from 2016 to 2019. During his time as Registrar of the Supreme Court, Justice Pengele was also Head of the Research Advocates’ Section. Justice Pengele served as Senior Research Advocate in the Office of the Chief Justice from 2013 to 2016. He also worked at the Anti-Corruption Commission from 2006 to 2013 where he rose through the ranks to the position of Senior Legal and Prosecutions Officer. In 2011 the Anti-Corruption Commission conferred him with an Achievement Award for the attribute of Most Hard Working Employee in the Commission.
From 2016 to 2021, Justice Pengele served as Coordinator for Southern African Chief Justices’ Forum (SACJF), a Forum of Chief Justices from 16 Countries drawn from the Southern and Eastern Regions of Africa. He also served as Deputy Secretary to the Judicial Service Commission from 2015 to 2019 and Co-Secretary of the Council of Law Reporting from 2016 to 2019. During the same period, he doubled as Secretary of the Editorial Board of the Council of Law Reporting.
Justice Pengele also sat on various Advisory Committees to the Chief Justice, before he was appointed Judge of the High Court, and continued to serve on the Advisory Committee on Training and Continuing Education until 2022.