High Court of Tanzania

This is the second level in the Judiciary justice delivery hierarchy. It has both appellate and original powers on civil and criminal matters. It also hears appeals from the Courts of Resident Magistrate, the District Courts, and the District Land and Housing Tribunals in exercise of their original, appellate and/or revisional jurisdiction. The High Court is divided into Zones and specialized Divisions. 

Physical address
24 Kivukoni Road, P O Box: S.L.P. 9004
16 judgments

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16 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
November 2007
Applicant entitled to repayment after respondent breached agreement by failing to allot agreed shareholding.
* Commercial law – contract/investment – funds advanced for shareholding in new company – failure to issue/transfer share certificates – breach of implied terms – restitution and interest awarded.
16 November 2007
October 2007
A civil revision arising from affiliation proceedings abates upon the death of the respondent.
* Civil procedure – Affiliation proceedings – Effect of death of a party – Abatement of cause of action. * Civil procedure – Analogy to tort and defamation – causes of action abating on death. * Precedent – Reliance on Saidi Kibwana & Another v Rose Jumbe [1993] TLR 175.
25 October 2007
High Court cannot order bail or direct a magistrate to grant bail in matters not yet before it; application premature.
Criminal procedure – Bail – Jurisdiction – Section 148(3) Criminal Procedure Act – High Court may order bail only in matters before it – Application premature where accused not committed – Judicature and Application of Laws Act inapplicable to confer absent magistrates' powers.
8 October 2007
Competence of an appointee liquidator under a consultancy agreement and requirement to correct a defective plaint verification.
Civil procedure – preliminary objections – locus standi of liquidator appointed by consultant under liquidation consultancy agreement; notice to Registrar as evidence of appointment; verification of pleadings – Order VI r.15(2) CPC requirement to specify what is from personal knowledge and what is on information; curability of defective verification by amendment; abandonment of unargued objections.
5 October 2007
September 2007
A decree must bear the date of pronouncement of the judgment/ruling; otherwise the appeal is incompetent and struck out.
Civil Procedure – Decree must bear the date on which judgment or ruling was pronounced (O. XX r.7 Civil Procedure Code, 1966); improperly dated decree renders appeal incompetent and liable to be struck out; rule applies to drawn orders extracted from rulings as well as decrees from judgments.
12 September 2007
August 2007
Correspondence plus performance formed a binding bitumen supply contract; late/short delivery breached time‑essential terms, damages awarded.
Contract — formation by correspondence and performance — bank guarantee as consideration — terms: 59 containers of bitumen 60/70; deliveries 12 containers every 10 days from 11/5/2004; time of essence — defendant breached for late/short delivery — plaintiff awarded special damages; defendant awarded unpaid invoices; demurrage claims dismissed for lack of proof.
3 August 2007
July 2007
Court ordered consolidation of two related actions to avoid multiplicity and give effect to Court of Appeal directions.
* Civil procedure — Consolidation of suits — Inherent jurisdiction to consolidate where no statutory provision — Criteria: common questions of law or fact, avoidance of multiplicity and conflicting decisions, convenience and justice — Compliance with Court of Appeal directions. * Arbitration — Parallel arbitral award and domestic proceedings — Effect on related court actions and need for coordinated determination. * Companies — Winding‑up proceedings and procedural numbering (Companies (Winding‑Up) Rules) considered but not decisive against consolidation.
31 July 2007
Denial of bail for armed robbery under section 148(5)(a) lacks procedural safeguards and violates Article 15(2)(a).
Constitutional law — Personal liberty: denial of bail for armed robbery under section 148(5)(a) — lacks 'procedure prescribed by law' and is arbitrary; not saved by Article 30(2). Criminal procedure — Disclosure: section 9(3) restricting pre-trial access to witness statements does not violate right to fair hearing given practical and security constraints. Criminal procedure — Delay: section 225(4) adjournment/certificate regime not per se inconsistent with Article 107A(2)(b); magistrates must enforce limits; provisions apply to armed robbery. Article 30(5) invoked to permit legislative rectification (18 months).
13 July 2007
Application to amend and revisit court judgment dismissed as time-barred where no extension of time was sought.
Civil Procedure - Limitation of actions - application under ss.68(c), 95 & 96 Civil Procedure Act - Law of Limitation Act Part III First Schedule Item 1 - application filed out of 60-day period - no enlargement of time sought; Preliminary objection - court improperly moved; Reliefs seeking amendment/striking of judgment amounting to attempt to revisit court's own judgment (appeal/revision) - procedure not recognised.
10 July 2007
High Court has jurisdiction over the land appeal filed after the Land Disputes Courts Act, but finalisation requires Chief Justice's extension.
* Land law – jurisdiction of High Court to hear appeals from district courts – reliance on s.183(1) Land Act and s.4(1) Land Disputes Courts Act. * Procedural requirement – necessity of Chief Justice's extension under s.54(4) Cap.216 before substantive finalisation of appeal.
3 July 2007
A claim for unpaid terminal benefits arising from termination is a trade dispute outside the High Court's original jurisdiction.
• Labour law – trade dispute: claim for unpaid salaries/terminal benefits arising from termination falls within definition of trade dispute under Industrial Court of Tanzania Act. • Jurisdiction: Industrial Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over trade disputes; High Court lacks original jurisdiction to hear such matters. • Procedure: late written submissions filed without leave are inadmissible.
3 July 2007
May 2007
Applicant failed to show sufficient cause for extension of time to seek leave to appeal; application dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — extension of time — sufficient cause required to extend time to seek leave to appeal — absence at delivery of judgment not per se sufficient — applicant’s history of defaults and inadequate affidavit evidence relevant to discretion — costs awarded to respondent.
29 May 2007
Whether a complaint letter can invoke Advocates Committee jurisdiction and whether it could order a TSh25,000,000 refund; letter sufficed, refund quashed.
* Advocates disciplinary procedure – s.13(1)(c) Advocates Act – allegation of misconduct may be instituted by complainant's letter; formal Form No.1 and affidavit not always mandatory. * Notice and service – copy of complaint letter can satisfy s.13(3)(a) requirements where particulars are disclosed. * Tribunal powers – Committee may admonish, suspend and order costs/witness expenses (s.13(4),(5)); it cannot order repayment of a plaintiff’s civil claim as a "refund". * Evidence and default – committee may act on complainant’s and witness evidence where advocate defaults to appear; appellate courts will not admit fresh defences that were available at hearing. * Sentence review – suspension period is discretionary; absence of mitigation undermines challenge to severity.
18 May 2007
Appellate court unlawfully validated a non-existent power of attorney and decided merits where respondent lacked locus standi.
Locus standi – requirement that plaintiff have legal authority to sue; Power of attorney – admissibility and proof; Retrospective validation – appellate court cannot legalize absence of authority at trial by admitting undocumented power; Affidavit copies – uncertified or not sworn by grantor do not evidence grant of authority; Appellate procedure – limits on going into merits where jurisdictional defect remains.
16 May 2007
March 2007
Alleged fraud in obtaining a consent judgment suspends limitation until discovery; application held not time-barred.
* Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Application to set aside consent judgment alleged to have been obtained by fraud. * Limitation — Law of Limitation Act s.26 — Fraud suspends running of limitation until discovery. * Evidence — Discovery date established by passport stamp and newspaper evidence. * Corporate law — Allegation of fraud may justify lifting the corporate veil. * Procedure — Defective affidavit may be withdrawn and refiled; preliminary objections overruled.
30 March 2007
February 2007
Leave to appeal refused because the High Court only held revision inappropriate where an appeal lies; applicant may appeal directly.
* Civil procedure — leave to appeal — leave refused where High Court did not determine the substantive points proposed for appeal. * Civil procedure — revision v appeal — revision does not lie where there is a right of appeal (MATEMBA v YAMULINGA principle). * Jurisdiction — whether magistrates’ court may enforce Ministerial decisions and whether High Court leave is required for enforcement (not decided by High Court in this case).
22 February 2007