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600 judgments found.
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December 2021
Pre‑suit mareva injunction denied: applicant failed to show triable issue, irreparable harm or favourable balance of convenience.
Civil procedure
— Interim injunction — requirements: prima facie case, irreparable harm, balance of convenience
— Mareva injunction — Interim restraint pending statutory notice period — Judicature and Application of Laws Act s 2(3)
— Mortgage enforcement — sale of mortgaged property and effect on interim relief
28 December 2021
Failure to transfer proceedings after counsel engagement denied the appellant's right to be heard, vitiating the lower courts' decisions.
Civil procedure — Magistrates’ Courts Act — Transfer of proceedings — Sections 45 and 47 — Effect of non‑compliance
Constitutional law — right to be heard (Article 13(6)(a)) — Right to be heard and representation — Failure to transfer proceedings upon counsel engagement (Article 13(6) of the Constitution)
Evidence — Primary court evidence — Admission of secondary versus original evidence — Rules of Evidence in Primary Court (1964)
28 December 2021
Court granted bail pending trial under EOCCA with half-value deposit, sureties, passport surrender and movement restrictions.
Criminal procedure
— Bail — Jurisdiction of High Court under EOCCA s.29(4)(d) where value exceeds TZS 10,000,000
— conditions for bail under EOCCA s.36(5) — including monetary deposit, sureties, surrender of travel documents, and reporting requirements
Wildlife offences — Unlawful possession of government trophies — Bailable offences and asset-security requirements — EOCCA s29(4)(d) & s36(5)
24 December 2021
Uncontested EOCCA bail application allowed; court imposed monetary/immovable security, bonds, sureties, passport surrender and movement restrictions.
Civil procedure — Uncontested bail application — effect on court’s exercise of discretion to admit accused to bail
Criminal law — Bail conditions — monetary deposit/share of alleged value, alternative immovable property security, bonds, sureties, surrender of travel documents, movement restriction, verification by Resident Magistrate
Criminal procedure — Bail
24 December 2021
Where charge sheet omits pecuniary value, bail jurisdiction lies with committal court; High Court may nonetheless grant bail via inherent powers.
Criminal procedure — Bail
— jurisdiction depends on pecuniary value of property involved
— undisclosed value vests jurisdiction in committal court. Doubt about value resolved in favour of accused. High Court may invoke inherent powers to grant bail where appropriate
23 December 2021
A review application filed after the 30‑day statutory limit is time‑barred; suo motu court action without a written order does not extend time.
Civil procedure — review applications — Limitation period and reckoning of filing date — Sua motu court direction does not extend filing time absent a written order
22 December 2021
Appellant failed to prove prior transfers; 10% award to respondent for domestic contribution to matrimonial house upheld.
Civil procedure — Appeal — quashing of eviction order overtaken by events
Evidence — Burden of proof
Family law — Division of matrimonial property
22 December 2021
Absent an appeal, review is available and manifest errors in judgment justify review and uphold the district court.
Civil procedure — Judgment requirements
— Manifest error/miscarriage of justice grounds for review
— Order XX Rule 4: necessity of concise statement, points for determination, decision and reasons
Civil procedure — Review jurisdiction
22 December 2021
21 December 2021
Extension of time refused where applicant failed to account for delay despite respondent's defective counter-affidavit.
Civil procedure
— Court of appeal rules (rule 45(a)) — time limits for applying for leave to appeal — need to prove when judgment copy was received
— extension of time — Application under s.11(1) AJA
Evidence — Affidavit law — validity of counter-affidavit — deponent named differs from jurat signatory
— advocate may swear only to matters within personal knowledge
— information supplied to advocate is hearsay
17 December 2021
Applicant’s extension of time denied: counter-affidavit defective and applicant failed to account for delay or show diligence.
Civil procedure
— extension of time — essential ingredients of a valid affidavit
— information supplied by client is hearsay and renders affidavit defective.* Exercise of judicial discretion — extension refused where applicant fails to account for delay or show diligence
17 December 2021
Court granted a three-month extension to an administrator to complete estate administration due to illness.
Probate law — Enlargement of time — Administrator’s failure to exhibit inventory and file accounts — Illness as good cause for extension
17 December 2021
Convictions quashed where visual ID, chain of custody for handwriting evidence, and bank statement corroboration were deficient.
Criminal law — Evidentiary chain of custody
— convictions quashed for failure to prove case beyond reasonable doubt
— handwriting expert report inadmissible where comparison document not tendered
Criminal law — Visual identification — unreliable identification parade and absence of CCTV
17 December 2021
High Court granted uncontested EOCCA bail, finding jurisdiction and imposing statutory s36(5) deposit, surety and travel conditions.
EOCCA — jurisdictional pecuniary bar (s29(4)(a)) — bailable offences — mandatory bail conditions under s36(5) — deposit or property security, sureties, surrender of travel documents, and attendance obligations.
17 December 2021
A sending bank is responsible to its customer for international transfers not received, including correspondent banks’ failings.
Banking law — banker — customer relationship
— agency and sub-agent liability
— privity of contract
Banking law — Bank of Tanzania Financial Consumer Protection Regulations (Reg. 58)
— executability and clarity of judgments
— responsibility of initiating service provider where multiple providers involved
Banking law — Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) — SWIFT transfers
Banking law — Remedies — repayment, general damages and costs
17 December 2021
An unregistered entity lacks locus standi; proceedings instituted by it are incompetent and must be struck out.
Civil procedure
— competence of proceedings — where plaintiff’s legal status is uncertain the suit must be struck out rather than adjudicated on merits
— Costs — court may order shared costs where fairness warrants
— Locus standi — legal personality of unregistered societies — an unregistered society cannot sue in its own name
— revisional jurisdiction — High Court may invoke revisional powers to quash proceedings founded on an incompetent suit
17 December 2021
Court held VTMS fines to drivers lawful; plaintiff's claim for Tshs.350M failed for lack of proof.
Administrative law — Administrative/regulatory enforcement — Authority to compound offences under Written Laws
Road traffic law — Legality of issuing VTMS-based notifications and fines to public service vehicle crew — Transport Licensing
16 December 2021
Whether applicants charged with unlawful possession of government trophies should be admitted to bail and on what conditions.
Criminal law — Bail — unlawful possession of government trophies — bail pending trial granted
15 December 2021
Circumstantial evidence must form a coherent chain; disjointed gaps and uncalled material witnesses vitiate conviction.
Criminal law — Theft — sufficiency of circumstantial evidence — Requirement for a coherent chain of circumstances
Criminal procedure — Conviction safety — contradictions between evidence and charge sheet undermine prosecution case — Missing physical exhibits undermine proof beyond reasonable doubt
Evidence — duty to call witnesses — Failure to call material witness (present at scene) — Adverse inference
15 December 2021
Court reduced instruction fee and struck out unclaimed suo motu preparation costs on taxation review.
Legal profession — Advocates’ remuneration
— Discretion to exceed Schedule requires stated reasons (nature, complexity, time)
— Revision
— Suo motu awards of unclaimed/unproven costs disallowed
— Attendance, transport and disbursement allowances
— Taxation of costs
14 December 2021
Failure to administer oath to competent witnesses in a matrimonial trial vitiated proceedings and warranted a retrial.
Family law — Matrimonial proceedings — Administration of oath/affirmation to witnesses — Failure to comply vitiates proceedings — Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act s 4(a)
14 December 2021
Appellant failed to prove vehicle ownership and thus lacked insurable interest; appeal dismissed with costs.
Motor vehicle collision; proof of ownership under Evidence Act s.110(1); insurable interest and entitlement to indemnity; documentary evidence and tendering of registration/sale documents; locus/standing to claim insurance proceeds.
14 December 2021
Enforcement orders by a juvenile court are executionary and not appealable; challenge the original order or seek revision.
Civil procedure
— Appealability of orders — Enforcement/execution orders — Whether enforcement orders of juvenile court are appealable — Civil Procedure Code s 74(1) and Order XL
— Remedies against execution orders — Proper remedy is appeal of original order or revision — Law of the Child (Juvenile Court Procedure) Rules r.81
14 December 2021
A Mareva injunction under s.2(3) JALA is inappropriate where no legal impediment prevents instituting the Companies Act claim.
Civil procedure — s.2(3) Judicature and Application of Laws Act
— Atilio
— available remedies
— intended where legal impediment prevents instituting a suit
— interlocutory application is not a pending main suit
Civil procedure — Temporary injunctions
13 December 2021
Revocation of letters of administration requires proof of fraud; unproven allegations warrant dismissal.
Civil procedure
— Procedure — Compliance with citation requirements and absence of caveat legitimising grant
— Remedies — Appropriateness of revocation once administration progressed and final account filed
Probate law — Revocation of letters of administration — Grounds
13 December 2021
Appellant’s honest belief in ownership negated malicious prosecution; appeal allowed and trial judgment set aside.
Tort — Malicious prosecution
— burden on plaintiff to prove absence of reasonable cause
— elements required: institution/continuation of proceedings, absence of reasonable and probable cause, malice, termination in plaintiff's favour
— reporting to police with honest belief constitutes reasonable cause
— withdrawal/amicable settlement not necessarily termination in favour
10 December 2021
Extension of time denied: delay partly excused for obtaining judgment, remaining delay unaccounted and alleged illegality not apparent.
Civil procedure
— computation of time — Exclusion for time to obtain copy of judgment and decree
— Extension of time to appeal — Good cause (account for each day of delay) — Magistrates Courts Act s 25
— illegality apparent on face of record — Whether alleged illegality justifies enlargement of time
10 December 2021
Conviction for cattle theft quashed where owner failed to identify livestock beyond general description, creating reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— generalized description (colour) insufficient — Evidence of co‑accused — Conviction unsafe where identification doubtful
— Theft — Identification and ownership of allegedly stolen property
10 December 2021
10 December 2021
Application for limited letters dismissed for non‑compliance with Probate Rules; applicant may petition under intestacy rules.
Probate law — limited letters of administration — procedural precondition of lodging a petition — intestacy grants — standing of divorced former spouse to petition after revocation of administrator
10 December 2021
Appellant failed to prove a loan contract with the company; appeal dismissed with costs.
Company law — Corporate personality — Corporate authority
Contract law — proof of existence of contract — Proof of written or oral contract
Evidence — Admissibility of documents — Admissibility of exhibits
10 December 2021
Circumstantial evidence and a corroborated cautioned statement proved the appellant damaged TTCL cables and caused quantified loss.
Criminal law — Economic offences — Damaging property used for necessary services — Proof of elements and sufficiency of circumstantial evidence
Evidence
— Confessional/cautioned statements and corroboration — Reliance on a cautioned statement corroborated by independent witnesses
— Proof of pecuniary loss — Proof by expert/agency report admitted as exhibit
10 December 2021
Applicant failed to show sufficient cause, technical delay, or apparent illegality to justify extension of time to seek leave to appeal.
Civil procedure
— extension of time — Bushiri principles
— Technical delay — Fortunatus Masha — applicable where appeal/filing struck out, not where appeal withdrawn
Tort — Procedural negligence — ignorance of law by advocate not good cause for extension
10 December 2021
Delay in receiving judgment copies does not excuse late appeal; alleged illegality must be apparent on the record.
Civil procedure
— Appeal from District Court exercising appellate jurisdiction — Extension of time — Thirty day limitation
— Civil procedure (appeals from primary courts) GN No.312/1964 — No legal requirement to attach impugned judgment to petition of appeal
— extension of time — Illegality ground
10 December 2021
Material date variance and credibility doubts meant the prosecution failed to prove sexual offences beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — where dates uncertain charge should be amended under s.234 CPA — Criminal Procedure Act s.234(1)
Evidence — Witness credibility — Inconsistencies and speculative statements undermine prosecution’s case — Unexplained assertions (mother’s alleged deep sleep due to medication) undermining victim’s testimony
3 December 2021
Winding-up petition struck out for failure to verify the petition by affidavit; advertisement issue dismissed for lack of proof.
Civil procedure — Overriding objective — Curative endorsement permissible but cannot cure mandatory verification requirement
Company law
— Service, advertisement and certificate of compliance under Companies (Insolvency) Rules — Requirement to advertise within seven working days after service or seven working days before hearing (Rule 99)
— Winding up petition — Verification of petition by affidavit mandatory — Companies (Insolvency) Rules GN. No. 43 of 2005
3 December 2021
Appellate court dismisses challenge to execution order: issues not raised at trial cannot be entertained and execution against both defendants was proper.
Civil procedure
— Appellate review — appellant cannot raise issues not pleaded or determined at trial
— execution of judgment — variation of remedy to monetary compensation where property destroyed — whether execution can be directed against both defendants
— Parties — joinder — cannot join a non-party (road authority) in execution proceedings
3 December 2021
Adoption granted where statutory procedures, commissioner’s consent and social report establish the child's best interests.
Family law — Law of the child act — Adoption
— abandonment and placement in care
— Best interests of the child
— compliance with Section 59(1) and (2)
— consent by Commissioner for Social Welfare
— foster care and attachment
— guardian ad litem social investigation
3 December 2021
Revision during execution cannot be used to re-open an unchallenged consent decree; execution must enforce the decree.
Administrative law — Locus standi — Party to decree entitled to execute decree even where benefits go to beneficiary
Civil procedure — Revision — Limits of revision during execution
Family law — Consent judgments in matrimonial causes
— Parties may agree to transfer matrimonial property to third‑party beneficiaries
— such consent is binding unless set aside by review or appeal
3 December 2021
Extension of time granted where lay applicant bona fide filed revision instead of appeal; section 14(1) LLA applies.
Civil procedure — extension of time
— applicability where District Court acted in original jurisdiction
— bona fide ignorance of correct remedy
— no prejudice to respondent
— short delay
3 December 2021
Cautioned statements not read aloud are expunged; without them prosecution failed to prove armed robbery beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal procedure — admissibility of cautioned statements
— failure is fatal and leads to expungement
— mandatory requirement to read admitted documents aloud to accused
Criminal procedure — sufficiency of evidence for armed robbery — identification, medical/PF3 evidence for weapon use, and limits of recent-possession doctrine
3 December 2021
Preliminary objection alleging a frivolous constitutional challenge was dismissed and the petition referred for full hearing by a three-judge panel.
Civil procedure — Mukisa biscuit principle
— BRADEA s.8(2) jurisdictional limits
— pure point of law vs. factual enquiry
Civil procedure — preliminary objection — frivolous/vexatious and abuse of process
Constitutional law — challenge to Government Proceedings Act (ss. 6A, 16(3), 16(4)) — allegations of discrimination and impediment to execution of decrees
3 December 2021
A Mareva‑type injunction application was struck out for failing to serve the mandatory 90‑day notice and lacking cause of action against government respondents.
Civil procedure
— Government proceedings act (section 6(2)) — mandatory 90‑day notice to Attorney General — noncompliance renders proceedings premature
— Mareva (freezing) injunctions pending institution of a suit — applicability of section 2(3) JALA to import common law equitable remedies where no suit is pending
3 December 2021
Consent judgment recording installment payment settlement, 7% default interest, and each party to bear own costs.
Civil procedure — Consent judgment
— Deed of settlement filed under Order XXIII, Rule 3 Civil Procedure Code
— Interest at 7% on default
— parties to bear own costs
— Withholding tax certificate requirement
2 December 2021
2 December 2021
A cautioned statement is inadmissible where time and terms of the caution are not recorded and the interview occurred outside the permitted statutory period.
Criminal procedure
— Admissibility of cautioned statements recorded beyond statutory time limits — Recording beyond s.50/s.51 and inadmissibility under s.169 Criminal Procedure Act — s.50/s.51/s.169 Criminal Procedure Act
— cautioned statement/confession — Requirement to record the time and terms of the caution (s.57(2) CPA) — s.57(2) Criminal Procedure Act
2 December 2021
Circumstantial evidence, lack of seizure certificate and missing material witnesses rendered the conviction unsafe.
Criminal law — Cattle theft — circumstantial evidence — proof beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal law — Evidence Act — search and seizure
— certificate of seizure and chain of custody
— Duty to call material witnesses
— Evaluation of accused's defence
1 December 2021
Failure to serve a complainant's statement and inadequate visual identification rendered the conviction unsafe.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — visual identification
— identification by naming alone is insufficient without describing lighting conditions
— need to exclude mistaken identity
Evidence
— admission and service of documentary exhibits — statement admitted
— Confessions — extra-judicial confession to civilian may be probative, but conviction may still be vitiated by procedural defects in evidence handling
1 December 2021
November 2021
An invalid conciliation board certificate deprives the court of jurisdiction to pronounce divorce despite the parties’ apparent agreement.
Family law — Matrimonial law — Conciliation board certificate
— Consent to divorce insufficient to cure defective conciliation certificate
— Procedural compliance as prerequisite to trial of matrimonial causes
— Validity and competence to found court proceedings
30 November 2021
Court quashed directors' arrest order for failure to lift corporate veil and prove absence of attachable company assets.
Civil procedure — Execution
— Evidentiary burden on decree-holder to prove facts justifying lifting corporate veil — Proof of inability to trace assets and establishing directorship
— Lifting corporate veil to enforce decree against directors/managers — Proof of inability to trace attachable assets and proof of directorship
30 November 2021