Justice Administration Outside the Ordinary Courts of Law in Mainland Tanzania: The Case of Ward Tribunals in Babati District

Abstract

Since colonial days, justice administration in what is now mainland Tanzania, has invariably involved arbitral procedures alongside the more court-based litigation process. The British colonial government in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) systematized and put in place a system of customary arbitration which, although distinct, formed part of the colonial legal system. At first the post-colonial state adopted this system without any alteration, but in 1969 a statutory provision was made for the creation of a more formal and village-based structure known as the Arbitration Tribunals (1969). In 1985, a parliament Act (no. 7 of 1985) replaced these with more formalized and regularized organs called the Ward Tribunals. In contrast to the Arbitration Tribunals, the latter organs are based in wards and are meant to function under the overall control of the district-based local government authorities.