Court structure refers to an entity in the government to which the administration of justice is delegated.

1 Judicial courts are created by the government through the enactment of the statutes or by constitutional provisions for the purpose of enforcing the law for the public good. They are impartial forums for the resolution of controversies between parties who seek redress from the violation of their legal rights.2 Courts in Tanzania are arranged in a simple and clear hierarchical containing superior courts and subordinate courts established by two different laws that is the !agistrate Court "ct # $hereinafter to be referred to as !C"% and the Constitution of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania.( The hierarch includes the )rimary Courts at the bottom of the ladder followed by the *istrict Courts and Courts of 'esident !agistrates the +igh Court of Tanzania and finally the Court of "ppeal of Tanzania which is the highest "ppellate Court of mainland Tanzania and for ,anzibar. )rimary Courts are established in every *istrict. The )rimary Court is the lowest court in the judicial ladder in the country. This court is established by the !C" under section #$1% )rimary Courts were established in 1-./ and the rationale was to have courts which would deal with small matters e0peditiously while at the same time be close to the community. Thus the procedures in these courts are supposed to be simple and the parties themselves can conduct cases without the aid of prosecutors and advocates1. The *istricts Courts are established in every district. The *istrict Courts are presided over by the *istrict !agistrates. These courts are established for under section ($1% of the !C" currently the *istrict Courts in Tanzania are manned by the *istrict 'esident !agistrates who are law graduates.. The 'esident !agistrates Courts are established for under section 1$1% of the !C". These courts are presided over by the law graduates2 'esident !agistrates Courts are conferred territorial
1

http://legal-dicionary.the freedictionary.com/court+hierarchy Accessed on 4th;December 2010 ibid.

Cap 11 '.3 2//2 1-445 Cap 2 '.3 2//26 as amended from time to time. ! 7.8. 9hivji Constitution and Legal System of Tanzania p. 22# " :p cit p 221
4

jurisdiction within areas as specified by the Chief Justice by the order in the 8azette establishing such courts. These are the courts at the administrative level of the region4. The +igh Court of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania is established for under "rticle 1/; of the Constitution of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania $supra%. The +igh Court is recently described to be the superior court having full jurisdiction by virtue of section 2$1% of Judicature and "pplication of <aws "ct; in Tanzania the +igh Court is divided into two that is to say the +igh Court !ainland Tanzania and the +igh Court of ,anzibar. The +igh Court of ,anzibar is established under "rticle 11( of the constitution of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania- as well as under "rticle -#$1% of the Constitution of ,anzibar. =hat is more important is that the subordinate Courts of ,anzibar1/2 *istrict or 'egional Courts and )rimary Courts are established under the !agistrate Courts "ct 11 where as the other Court in ,anzibar is the >adhi?s Court which is established under >adhi?s Court "ct12 which has e0clusively jurisdiction on 7slamic <aw matters The Court of "ppeal of Tanzania of 1-4- was established after the collapse of the 3ast "frica Court of "ppeal and the collapse of the former 3ast "frican Community. The Court of "ppeal of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania is established by the Constitution under "rticle 114 of the Constitution $supra%. The court of "ppeal is a union matter and thus has jurisdiction in both Tanzania mainland and Tanzania ,anzibar1#.

THE DIAGRAM SHOWING THE CO RT S!STEMS O" TAN#ANIA

# $

:p cit p22. Cap #1; '.3 2//2 % 1%## &'A(. 2 ).* 2002+
10

,an-ibar 'onstitution o. 1%$4. Act /o0" o. 1%$! Act /o. o. 1%$!

11

12

:p cit p 2#/

Court of "ppeal of Tanzania

+igh Court of Tanzania

+igh Court of ,anzibar

'egional !agistrate Court *istrict and 'esident !agistrate?s Court Juvenile Court

)rimary Court

*istrict Court

)rimary Court

@rom the diagram above it follows therefore that the court structure in Tanzania has been designed to reflect the need of Tanzanians in settling disputes from the lower courts in the hierarchy to the higher courts. This structure in administration of civil justice it affords an opportunity to the parties apart from instituting the case from the lower court to the higher once but also to seek other reliefs such as appeals review and the courts to make revision and references.

7n case of appeal in most cases the unsuccessful party if dissatisfied in the judgment of the trial court and in other circumstances both parties may be dissatisfied with the outcome of the case. 7n such a case the dissatisfied party may appeal or cross appeal $as the case may be% from the decision of the trial court to a superior court. 7ndeed this is the right granted by the Constitution of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania as provided under "rticle 1#$.% $a%1(. "s a matter of procedure every suit must be instituted in the court of the lowest grade competent to try it as per section 1# of the Civil )rocedure Code 112 and by the provisions of this "ct the *istrict Court and Court of 'esident !agistrate which are deemed to be the courts of the same grade are the lowest court competent to try suits if they otherwise have jurisdiction. 9o unless otherwise provided by any law an appeal from every appealed decree of a Court of 'esident !agistrate or *istrict Court in its e0ercise of its original jurisdiction lies to the +igh Court1..

The other relief apart from appeal is review2 under this aspect the law allows any person who is aggrieved by any decision or order from which appeal is allowed but no appeal has been made to apply for review of the order or decision made by magistrate who passed the judgment. 'eview may also be applied for in circumstances where the party has no right to appeal so that a court can reverse its decision. This is provided for under :der A<77 'ule 1$b% of the Civil )rocedure Code14 which is to the effect that the applicant for review has to show that he or she has discovered new or important matters of evidence and the judge to whom the application is made is free to alter his or her decision as he or she deems fit. 7n line from the above the other relief is 'evisions2 the +igh Court is vested with general powers of supervision and revision over all district courts and Court of 'esident !agistrate in e0ercise of their appellate jurisdiction on matters originating from primary courts as well as in the e0ercising of their original jurisdiction. =here in the e0ercise of such powers the +igh Court may either call to inspect the record of any proceedings or direct any *istrict Court to call for
14 1!

5C") 2 '3B 2//26 C") ## '3B 2//2 1" 7bid 1# &'ap ).* 2002+

and inspect the record of any proceedings in a )rimary Court or it can itself revise any such proceedings. This position was affirmatively held in the case of Kulwa Daudi Vs Rebeca Stephan1; where it was stated that the revisionary power of the +igh Court may be invoked by any party to civil case or on the motion of the +igh Court to correct an error resulting in injustice committed by a district Court or the Court of 'esident !agistrate. The court structure of Tanzania has been designed to reflect the nature of the disputes and the way they can be resolved. The lower courts in the hierarchy are there to determine and settle minor disputes confined within the jurisdiction. +owever the same court structure provides an opportunity for an aggrieved party to seek other reliefs from the higher courts by the way of appeal review revision and reference just to mention few. The court structure in Tanzania as it is in the great e0tent reflected the needs of Tanzanians in settleling disputes this is due to the fact that whenever dispute arise it is the e0pectations of the Tanzanians or people involved in the disputes to have them resolved. 7t should be noted that the disputes are of different grades starting the very minor disputes to the complicated ones. To meet the needs of Tanzanians in settleling disputes "*' procedure was introduced in the administration of civil justice in Tanzania vide 8.C Co.(22 of 1--(. This amended the first schedule of the Civil )rocedure Code "ct1-. Those amendments introduced certain stages between the completion of pleadings and a trial in given case. The amendments introduced into the code three new orders namely :rder.;" :rder ;D and :rder ;C. 7n addition to amending several other :rders. The amendments came into effect on 1 st Covember 1--(. :rder E777 for e0ample introduced new steps in the civil procedure law2 those steps are 9ettlement and 9cheduling Conferences 9cheduling :rders 9peed Track of Cases and !ediation2/. 7n the year 2/// mediation was incorporated into law of the land by the 1# th amendment which provided "rticle 1/4" $2% of the Constitution of the &nited 'epublic of Tanzania 21. "*' was introduced due to many advantages including the followingB that the procedure was simple and
1$ 1%

$1-;1% T<' 11.. C") ## '3B 2//2 D.*.Chipeta Civil )rocedure in Tanzania 9tudents !anual pp. 114 F 11; 'A( 2 )*: 2002

20

21

fle0ible it takes time than the ordinary trial in courts of law it saves time and money it is capable of maintaining the relationship of the parties it helps in removing or reducing congestion of cases in the court and that the method maintains privacy between the parties and the society at large22. The "*' as a procedure has been introduced in the Tanzania court system for the purpose of satisfying the need of Tanzanians and ensuring that justice is always done to all the people in a reasonable speed and time. @urthermore in order to ensure that the need of the Tanzanian to settle disputes is met tribunals also were established to relieve the courts of law of their increasing workload. Therefore in this way the tribunals were meant to supplement rather than replace the ordinary courts of law. 2# 9ome of these tribunals are those which deal or based on land matters such as2 <and Tribunals which are established under 9ection 1.4 of the <and "ct 2( 9ection .2$2% of the Eillage <and "ct 21 and 9ection #$1% of the <and *isputes Courts "ct 2. whereas under these "cts there is Eillage <and Council =ard Tribunal and *istrict <and and +ousing Tribunal. "lso there are other institutions that have been established to solve disputes apart from courts of law in amicable manner these including2 G The Commission for !ediation and "rbitrationH. This is an independent institution established under 9ection 12 of <abour 7nstitutions "ct24 where it perform duties of conducting arbitrations referred to the Commission and make awards and also it performs all other necessary resolutions. "ll these tribunals are designed to solve disputes and also to remove the workload of the courts of law so as to meet the need of the Tanzanians to settle disputes.

22

1p cit p. 1!%

http://2eb.a.rica.u.l.edu 3acc /12/20104 &'A( 11 ):* 2002+ 2! &'A( 11 ):* 2002+ 2" 'A( 21" )*: 2002 2# Act /o.# o. 2004
24

"