Results.
297 judgments found.
Citation
Sort by Citation ascending
Judgment date
Sort by Judgment date ascending
December 2022
Whether DLHT was barred by res judicata and whether respondent proved ownership on the balance of probabilities.
Land law
— Appellate review — interference only for misdirection or non‑direction of evidence
— Evidence — ownership of land — standard of proof on balance of probabilities
— Res judicata — whether prior primary court or appellate decisions barred subsequent DLHT proceedings
— Value of documentary exhibits — building permit/site plan versus sale agreement and neighbours’ oral evidence
30 December 2022
Failure to file the mandatory CMA F.10 notice under Regulation 34(1) renders a labour revision application incompetent.
Labour law — Labour procedure — Revision applications — Regulation 34(1) GN
30 December 2022
Application to extend time to restore a revision was struck out for lack of territorial jurisdiction; proper registry was Dar es Salaam.
Civil procedure
— application for extension of time — whether ignorance or uncertainty as to proper registry excuses filing in wrong registry.* Judicial administration — transfer and management of case files between district/sub-registries and consequences for locus of proceedings
— territorial jurisdiction — proper registry for restoration of proceedings
30 December 2022
A vague description of un‑surveyed land in the plaint renders the suit incompetent and any decree unenforceable.
Land law
— description of unsurveyed land
— non‑description renders plaint incompetent and decree unenforceable
— overriding objective cannot cure fatal defect affecting executability
19 December 2022
A lease made by a purported manager without an effective power of attorney was void; appeal dismissed for failure to prove title.
Land law
— burden of proof in civil claims
— nemo dat quod non habet
— validity of lease
19 December 2022
Applicant failed to prove extraordinary circumstances to bypass mandatory referral to the Marriage Reconciliation Board under s101.
Family law
— Matrimonial procedure — Whether alleged absence or distant residence of a spouse constitutes extraordinary circumstances excusing referral to the Marriage Conciliation Board
— Requirement of Marriage Conciliation Board certificate under section 101, Law of Marriage Act — Whether extraordinary circumstances make referral to the Board impracticable
19 December 2022
Non-joinder of deceased sellers or their administrators does not defeat a land suit; striking out for non-joinder was erroneous.
Land law — Civil Procedure Code
— mandate to remit for fresh hearing
— mis-joinder/non-joinder not fatal
— plaintiff’s choice of defendant
— relief for striking out for non-joinder
Land law — non-joinder of parties — necessary
19 December 2022
Failure to argue pleaded grounds on appeal amounts to failure to prove the case; appeal dismissed and lower decisions upheld.
Land law — Land appeal
Land law — new grounds raised late
— District Land and Housing Tribunal powers to receive additional evidence
— inadmissible on subsequent appeal
19 December 2022
Applicant's mis‑citation of the impugned CMA ruling was a curable error; revision held within statutory time and allowed to proceed.
Labour law — Revision of CMA award — Time limit runs from service of the award — s91(1)(a) Employment and Labour Relations Act
Civil procedure — Pleadings — Typographical error in statutory citation — Overriding objective permits amendment to cure format errors
19 December 2022
Court upheld Taxing Master’s assessment; receipts not always required and applicant failed to show error.
Civil procedure — Costs — Proof of costs
— assessment guided by statutory cost scales and factors (work, complexity, attendances)
— No absolute requirement of receipts/vouchers for instruction fees
Civil procedure — Taxation of bill of costs — Discretion of the Taxing Master — High Court’s limited interference
Judicial review — setting aside taxation only where discretion was exercised on wrong principle or improperly
19 December 2022
Failure to state when the cause of action arose under Order VII, Rule 1(e) CPC rendered the plaint fatally defective and it was struck out.
Civil procedure — Order VII (pleadings) — Cause of action — Requirement to plead when cause of action arose (Order VII, Rule 1(e) CPC)
Limitation law — Whether suit is time‑barred — Ambiguous pleading of "over 11 years" may indicate suit instituted beyond twelve‑year limitation — Limitation period (12 years)
19 December 2022
Raising and deciding a new issue suo motu without hearing parties violates the right to be heard and vitiates the proceedings.
Civil procedure — jurisdictional irregularity — raising and deciding issue suo motu without hearing parties
Civil procedure — Right to be heard
— consequence: judgment a nullity and proceedings quashed
— nemo judex in sua causa
19 December 2022
Appeal allowed: District Court lacked pecuniary jurisdiction; suit transferred to Primary Court; no order as to costs.
Civil procedure
— Commercial cases — Definition and test for commercial significance — Requirement of civil nature, connection to business activities and considerable commercial significance
— jurisdiction — Pecuniary jurisdiction — Whether a TZS. 3,000,000 loan claim constitutes a commercial case under s.40(3)(b) MCA and Written Laws amendments
— Transfer of proceedings — Application of section 21 Civil Procedure Code / Application to transfer venue — Transfer under section 21(1)(a) Civil Procedure Code
19 December 2022
Applicants charged with economic offence granted bail subject to deposit of half the alleged loss and strict conditions.
Criminal law — Economic offences
— bail pending investigation
— high-value property
— mandatory and additional bail conditions (cash or immovable property security, sureties, passport surrender, movement restriction, reporting)
16 December 2022
Time spent obtaining certified judgment is automatically excluded under the Law of Limitation, rendering the applicant's appeal timely.
Land law — Land disputes courts act s41 — appeals to High Court (45 days)
Land law — Law of Limitation Act s19(2)/(3)
— automatic exclusion of time spent obtaining certified judgment/decree
— computation of limitation period
— preliminary objection on time-bar
16 December 2022
Parties resolved a land ownership dispute by consent deed requiring municipal defendants to allocate two replacement plots, deed adopted as decree.
Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Deed of Settlement adopted as court decree — Civil Procedure Code s 95; Order XXIII, Rule 3
Land law — Land allocation — Validity of administrative allocation by Urban Planning/Allocation Committee — Registration/transfer mechanism
15 December 2022
Preliminary objections dismissed: social media publication falls outside Media Services Act; counsel conflict speculative; case proceeds to merits.
Civil procedure — Preliminary objections — Mukisa test for pure points of law
Legal profession — Conflict of interest — Alleged advocate conflict
— Potential witness
— disqualification
— speculative objections premature
Tort — Defamation
15 December 2022
An appeal was struck out as time-barred due to a two-day unexplained delay in filing.
Land law — appeals from District Land and Housing Tribunal
Land law — Electronic filing — proof of filing date (JSDS) vs payment/receipt evidence
Land law — Time-barred appeal
— preliminary objection sustained
— Unexplained delay (even one day) is fatal
15 December 2022
Application struck out for failing to plead a certificate under section 47(3) LDCA; leave granted to refile.
Land disputes
— Appeals from Ward Tribunal
— incurable
— procedural requirements for Chamber Summons and affidavit
— remedy of striking out with leave to refile
— wrong citation of enabling provisions
15 December 2022
13 December 2022
Unparticularised financial constraints do not constitute good cause to extend time to file a bill of costs.
Limitation law — Advocates Remuneration Order 2015 (Rule 4)
— bill of costs to be filed within 60 days
— exercise of judicial discretion to refuse extension
— financial constraints generally not sufficient absent particularisation or evidence
Limitation law — Limitation — extension of time
13 December 2022
13 December 2022
Registered certificate of occupancy establishes ownership; non‑joinder and a single procedural takeover irregularity were not fatal to the judgment.
Civil procedure — non‑joinder of alleged allocator/sellers — plaintiff as dominus litis
Civil procedure — succession of judicial officers
— duty to record reasons for taking over
— irregularity excusable if no prejudice to substantive justice
Evidence — appearance by agent — admissibility and effect
Land law — Registered certificate of occupancy — evidential and determinative weight in competing claims to land
13 December 2022
Applicant's contradictory, unproved reasons failed to establish sufficient cause for extension; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — discretion of tribunal to grant extension
— factors include length of delay, reason, prospects of success and prejudice
— inadmissibility of written submissions filed out of schedule without leave
Civil procedure — extension of time — sufficiency of cause
13 December 2022
An appeal filed to the High Court after 60 days without extension is time-barred and struck out with costs.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — filing outside statutory period without application for extension is incurably time-barred and liable to be struck out
— preliminary objection
Land law — Land disputes courts act, s.38 — time limit for appeal to High Court (60 days) and discretion to extend time for good cause
12 December 2022
Claims to recover deceased’s land and for declaratory relief dismissed as time‑barred under the Law of Limitation.
Law of Limitation Act — accrual of right to recover land of a deceased person (s.9(1)) — declaratory relief accrues on dispossession (s.9(2)) — administrator treated as claiming as if no interval between death and grant (s.35) — statutory limitation periods for land (12 years) and declaratory relief (6 years) — out of time suit to be dismissed (s.3(1)).
12 December 2022
An appeal against a District Court order extending time was held interlocutory and not appealable, so it was struck out.
Appellate practice — Appealability — interlocutory orders — Order extending time to file an appeal is interlocutory and does not finally determine rights
Civil procedure
— preliminary objection
— remedy — Incompetent appeal struck out with costs
Criminal law — Magistrates' courts act s.43(2) — Limits on appeals from District Court interlocutory orders
12 December 2022
Leave to appeal granted because appellate quashing of trial proceedings raised an arguable legal issue on ordering retrial.
Land law
— appellate discretion to grant leave — issues of general importance or prima facie appeal
— leave to appeal
12 December 2022
Village council's failure to compensate the respondent rendered the allocation defective; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — Locus standi — Surviving spouse as proper party where pleadings/admissions show ownership/interest
Evidence — Discrepancies and contradictions — minor inconsistencies do not necessarily vitiate conviction
Land law — Village land allocation — requirement of Village Council/Assembly approval and minutes — Village Land Act s.3(1)(h) and s.8(5)
12 December 2022
Second appellate court dismissed appeal because appellants raised new grounds not previously argued before lower tribunals.
Civil procedure
— Appeals — second appeal — New grounds raised at appellate stage — Appellate court cannot entertain issues not raised or argued in lower tribunals
— Trial procedure — Ward Tribunal composition — Challenge to quorum/gender balance not raised earlier is not admissible on second appeal
12 December 2022
High Court quashed DLHT judgment after tribunal amended issues suo motu, thereby denying parties the right to be heard.
Civil procedure — Framing of issues — Trial court raising fresh issue suo motu — Denial of right to be heard (Order VIII B r 3(4) CPC)
Land law — Ownership dispute — Procedural irregularity in the tribunal — Quashing and remittal for retrial
12 December 2022
Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution after appellant failed to file court-ordered written submissions and seek an extension.
Civil procedure — Compliance with court orders — filing written submissions within prescribed time — abandonment of appeal
— dismissal for want of prosecution
— submissions filed out of time without leave are disregarded
12 December 2022
Non-joinder of a purchaser-in-possession makes a land suit incurably defective and liable to be struck out.
Land law
— necessary parties
— non-joinder renders plaint incurably defective
— Pleading requirements — Order VII r.1(e) (failure to state time when cause of action arose)
12 December 2022
High Court refused revision of DLHT decision, finding no apparent error on the face of the record and dismissing the application with costs.
Civil procedure
— Execution — remedy sought (redemption versus eviction) not supported by demonstrable jurisdictional error
— Review versus appeal — procedural limits and proper remedy where review was previously denied
Land disputes — Revision
12 December 2022
Applicants failed to show an apparent error on the record; High Court declined revisional intervention and dismissed the revision with costs.
Land law; revisional jurisdiction under Sections 41(1) and 43(1) LDCA; 'error apparent on the face of the record' principle; execution/ redemption orders; limits of review vs appeal.
12 December 2022
Failure to give reasons when departing from assessors’ opinions vitiated the trial and required retrial.
Land law
— omission renders proceedings a nullity — retrial before a different Chairperson and new assessors ordered
— Res judicata — appellate courts cannot consider issues not raised at trial
12 December 2022
Chairman's failure to give reasons for differing from assessors nullified the proceedings and required retrial.
Land law — Appeal
— non-joinder of necessary parties considered academic after nullity finding
— res judicata not raised at trial cannot be raised first on appeal
12 December 2022
Applicants terminated away from recruitment are entitled to daily subsistence allowance; CMA's omission was revised.
Employment law — Repatriation and subsistence allowance
12 December 2022
Circumstantial evidence, recent possession and a corroborated confession established the accuseds' guilt for murder and robbery.
Criminal law
— Circumstantial evidence — doctrine of recent possession — Requirements before inferring guilt from proximity or alleged possession of stolen property
— Extra-judicial confession — admissibility and corroboration — Caution and requirement of corroboration for retracted confessions
— Murder — Elements of murder and proof beyond reasonable doubt — Actus reus, malice aforethought and participation
8 December 2022
Extension of time granted where prison transfer and late delivery of records amounted to good cause.
Civil procedure — Judicial discretion
— Lyamuya principle
— prisoner transfer and late delivery of records as sufficient cause
— respondent's non-objection and interest of justice
7 December 2022
6 December 2022
Conviction unsafe due to unreliable night identification, absence of identification parade, and improperly admitted cautioned statement.
Criminal law
— Cautioned statement
— Identification parade — necessary where witness did not know accused before incident
— Visual identification — weakest form of evidence
6 December 2022
5 December 2022
Procedural defects in exhibit disposal, chain of custody, and documentary admission led to quashing of conviction.
Wildlife offences — Unlawful possession of government trophies — proof beyond reasonable doubt
Evidence
— chain of custody — failure breaks provenance of exhibit
— Documentary exhibits — Improper admission (documents read before formal tender)
5 December 2022
One applicant failed to justify extension of time; another granted leave to appeal for arguable misdirection on the claim.
Civil procedure — Delay — causes such as tribunal conduct, administrative interventions and COVID-19 require clear explanation and proof to constitute sufficient cause
Civil procedure — extension of time
Civil procedure — Leave to appeal
— discretionary
— granted where grounds raise arguable issues of law or fact warranting Court of Appeal consideration
2 December 2022
Second appellate court dismissed appeal: sale agreement proved third‑party ownership; appellant failed to prove matrimonial status.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — second appeal cannot raise issues not considered at first appeal (doctrine of trust)
Evidence — best evidence rule — written contract prevails over oral contradictions
Family law — Matrimonial property — classification of property — burden of proof on party alleging matrimonial asset
Land law — Property improvements/partial payments — do not necessarily confer ownership
1 December 2022
Plaintiff's ownership claim dismissed; lawful customary occupancy certificate upheld and respondent declared owner of disputed land.
Land law — customary right of occupancy
— Acquisition by occupation/clearance of unoccupied village land
— Estoppel/silence where no objections made during public land survey
— validity where statutory survey and objection procedures followed under s.25 Village Land Act
Land law — proof of ownership — burden and standard of proof in civil suits
1 December 2022
An appeal filed beyond the 45‑day limit is incompetent and struck out; extension may be sought under section 361(2).
Criminal procedure — appeal time limits
1 December 2022
November 2022
Appeal allowed: night-time visual identification found unreliable, conviction for armed robbery quashed.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — visual identification
— Application of Amani Waziri principles
— unsafe identification renders conviction unsustainable
30 November 2022
High Court granted leave to appeal on jurisdiction and several arguable land-law issues, but refused an afterthought failure-to-implead ground.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — Leave to appeal — requirement of issues of general importance, novel law, or prima facie/arguable appeal
Evidence — Evidence/procedure
— afterthoughts not to be certified
— raising new grounds or new evidence on appeal
Jurisdiction — jurisdictional challenges are fundamental and may be raised at any stage
Land law
— Property law
— trespass on unsurveyed land and proof of ownership
30 November 2022