High Court Commercial Division

The Commercial Court was officially inaugurated on 15th September, 1999. The Government of Tanzania endorsed the recommendations in 1997. It is a division of the High Court of Tanzania. The difference with other High Court Registries is that this court specializes in the determination of commercial disputes only.

15 judgments
  • Filters
  • Judges
  • Labels
  • Alphabet
Sort by:
15 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
December 2000
A defendant's admission warranted judgment on admission and a court-ordered six‑installment repayment schedule with costs.
Order XII r.4 CPC – judgment on admission; enforcement of agreed repayment schedule; costs; effect of admission on proceedings against co-defendants.
19 December 2000
Court entered judgment on defendant's admission, awarding interest, costs and a six-month repayment schedule.
* Civil Procedure – Judgment on admission – Application of Order XII r.4 CPC to enter judgment where defendant admits liability. * Debt recovery – Interest – Interest at Bank rate to accrue from specified date (31 October 2000). * Enforcement – Court-ordered instalment repayment schedule and costs of suit.
19 December 2000
October 2000
Application for injunction and blanket production of accounts dismissed for lack of proof and overbreadth.
Temporary injunctions — O. XXXVII r.1(a) and (b) — requirement to prove danger, removal or intention to defraud creditors; Production of documents — O. XI r.12 — scope limited to documents relating to matters in question; overbroad blanket discovery refused.
3 October 2000
September 2000
Banking transactions at specified branches vest in the Company, not the Holding Corporation; preliminary objection dismissed.
Banking law — National Bank of Commerce (Reorganisation and vesting of Assets and Liabilities) Act 23/1997 — s.10(1)(a) vests banking business of specified branches in the Company; s.10(1)(e) vests non-banking assets in the Holding Corporation — proper party to sue; statutory functions of Holding Corporation (s.6) do not include conducting banking business.
20 September 2000
Application for enlargement of time to file defence dismissed for inordinate delay and insufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Order VIII r.1(1)&(2) CPC — time to file written statement of defence and proviso allowing 21-day extension-application period; Limitation Act s.14(1) — discretionary enlargement of time subject to ss.43(f) and 46; substituted service by publication — computation of time; sufficiency of cause — counsel negligence and reliance on registry not a sufficient excuse.
7 September 2000
August 2000
Reported
A computer-generated bank record is a bankers' book and is admissible subject to the Evidence Act's safeguards.
* Evidence — Bankers' books — Whether computer-generated records/computer print-outs constitute bankers' books under the Evidence Act, 1967 — Admissibility of electronic banking records subject to statutory safeguards (secs. 77–79). * Statutory construction — Courts may interpret outdated statutory terms broadly to reflect technological and commercial developments.
30 August 2000
Court entered a consent judgment for the plaintiff of Tshs.18,018,000 with 24% interest; parties bear own costs.
Commercial law – consent judgment – court recording parties’ agreed monetary award and interest; costs each party to bear; payment mode left to parties.
21 August 2000
Court entered consent judgment awarding Tshs.18,018,000 with 24% interest; each party to bear own costs.
* Commercial law – consent judgment – court records and enforces settlement terms as judgment; amount and interest rate specified. * Civil procedure – costs – parties may agree that each bears own costs in a consent judgment. * Enforcement – consent judgments give monetary settlements the status of enforceable court orders; payment modalities may be left to parties.
21 August 2000
Unpaid costs did not bar refiling; company verification by a principal officer suffices; "and belief" struck out.
Commercial Division — interpretation of withdrawal order "on such terms" — does not create condition precedent to refiling; Civil Procedure Code — Order 28 r.1 & Order 6 r.15 (verification by corporation officers; specification of knowledge vs information and belief); s.97 CPC — court may amend or expunge procedural defects in pleadings; procedural defects in verification attract amendment/expunction, not dismissal.
7 August 2000
July 2000
Leave to defend granted in a summary suit where prima facie triable issues (repayment condition, interest calculation) existed.
* Civil procedure – summary suit (O. 35) – leave to defend – requirement of prima facie triable issues. * Contract law – condition precedent – whether repayment was conditional on clearance/sale of imported goods. * Banking/contractual interest – compound versus agreed simple rate. * Concurrent proceedings – effect of related suit and injunction on maintainability of subsequent action.
31 July 2000
A contingent "success fee" agreement with an advocate is champertous, illegal and unenforceable; claim dismissed.
* Reception clause – English common law doctrines of maintenance and champerty received into Tanzanian law and applicable. * Advocate conduct – contingent/ success fees that share recovery are champertous, contrary to public policy and unenforceable. * Statutory control – section 23 Law of Contract Ordinance and section 59 Advocates Ordinance prohibit such arrangements. * Professional rules – Tanganyika Law Society rules do not override substantive law; Advocates' Remuneration Rule para 8 gives narrow, ambiguous 5% exception.
21 July 2000
Applicants raised triable issues under Order XXXV Rule 3(1) and were granted unconditional leave to defend.
* Civil Procedure – Order XXXV Rule 3(1) – leave to defend – test is whether affidavit discloses triable issues; * Service – propriety of service by publication where defendants’ physical addresses were allegedly known; * Contract/Loan – existence of agreement to pay interest and dispute over 21% rate; * Remedies – application of Mechalec guidelines on conditional versus unconditional leave to defend.
18 July 2000
April 2000
Reported
Leave to appeal interlocutory Commercial Division orders is barred unless the order finally determines the suit.
Commercial Division — Appeals — Section 5(2)(d) Appellate Jurisdiction Act (as amended by Act No.10/1999) — No appeal from interlocutory or preliminary orders unless they finally determine the suit — Test: whether order practically puts an end to litigation or substantially disposes of issues — Leave to appeal discretionary and to prevent frivolous delay.
7 April 2000
Reported
A contingency success-fee agreement between an advocate and client is champertous, illegal and unenforceable in Tanzania.
* Maintenance and champerty – contingency-fee agreements between advocates and clients – public policy and unenforceability * Reception clause – applicability of English common law doctrines in Tanzania * Advocates Ordinance s.59 and Law of Contract Ordinance s.23 – illegality of contingent remuneration * Tanganyika Law Society Rules and Advocates’ Remuneration Rules – limits and lack of force to validate champerty * Contentious vs non-contentious business – when instructions to sue constitute contentious proceedings
3 April 2000
January 2000
17 January 2000