The studies reviewed so far suggest that the factors that motivate lawyers` actions and judges` reactions to them do not appear to vary much over time or between legal issues. However, other documents suggest that lawyers` strategy and direction may change over time depending on the characteristics or requirements of their clients (Fu and Cullen refer to Fu and Richard2011; Gonzáles-Ocantos 2016). These findings may be particularly relevant in jurisdictions where the political and legal environment in which lawyers operate is rapidly evolving, such as in several post-colonial African countries, including Tanzania. Research on African countries suggests that lawyers` decisions on whether and on which legal issues to plead may be motivated by the reactions of the executive branch – not judges. For example, Kenyan lawyers under Daniel Arap Moi faced serious consequences – including prison sentences – for defying the government by defending civil rights (Ross Reference Ross 1992). As Fauz Twaib (reference Twaib1997, 95) suggests, although not as drastically as the Kenyan case, Nyerere`s public skepticism of judges and courts in Tanzania may have discouraged lawyers from acting or acting against the government. These studies provide insight into the pressures lawyers face in the region, at least in times of autocracy in both countries. In the case of Tanzania, however, there is no evidence linking Nyerere`s views to lawyers` decisions on which cases to take on, or about building legal arguments in the cases they have adopted. Although the legal education system as a whole has maintained this lack of focus on rights, LLB programs appear to have evolved since the early days of the multi-party system. Today, LLB students in Tanzania are required to study the Constitution; However, the length and depth of mandatory courses on the subject vary. A survey of currently accredited LLB programs in Tanzania for which programs are available shows that students are typically required to take one or two constitutional law courses in the first year of their three- to four-year bachelor`s degree.
Footnote 14 However, this course seems insignificant in students` calculations about their practice years later, when they become lawyers. None of the respondents in this study cited their bachelor`s thesis as having influenced their subsequent decision in the area of law in which they will specialize or their current decisions regarding their business as practicing lawyers. My boyfriend wants me to have a big breast before we get married and asked me to get breast implants at a private hospital in Dar. Is it legal in Tanzania? HG, Dar Each of the factors described in the previous section – legal education, the limitations created by the legal framework, and the perceived attitudes and behaviours of the judiciary – independently limits law-based litigation in Tanzania. However, it is their combined effect that so strongly discourages lawyers from using rights-based arguments; Each factor amplifies the effect of the others. In this section, I provide an example of how these factors reinforce each other and deter lawyers from taking legal action. In 2017, Tanzanian President John Magufuli announced a policy banning pregnant teenage girls and mothers from attending public schools. This announcement provoked significant and sustained negative reactions from civil society groups, who argued that this provision would violate girls` constitutional protection against discrimination and constitutional equality rights before the law (Ratcliffe Reference Ratcliffe 2017).
Footnote 22 However, no group suggested challenging the policy in court. In addition, the Court often takes a formalistic approach to the requirements set out in the 2009 Court of Appeal Rules to dismiss law-based cases without considering the substantive issues of the case. These rules serve to maintain the practice, procedure and efficiency of the court in decisions and to establish a set of procedural guidelines that the court and the parties must follow. Footnote 21 For example, the court may dismiss a case because the applicant did not file an appeal within the prescribed time or because the litigant did not provide the other party with the correct documents in the case, among other technical reasons. While these rules apply to all cases before the Court of Appeal, the respondents believe that judges apply them more often in law-based cases (interviews R13, R14, R18): « You can make very good arguments based on the law, but with a slight procedural error, you end up losing everything » (interview R13). This study fills a gap between these two literary works: science, which focuses on citizens as key actors, and studies on the behavior of lawyers, which somewhat neglect their role in reasoning. As I will show later, to explain the low litigation rate in Tanzania, we need to put lawyers` strategic decisions at the centre of our analysis. The new focus on lawyers that I am proposing can also help shed light on the findings of litigation in other jurisdictions, as a lack of legal knowledge is common among citizens in many countries. Nevertheless, there is relatively little research on the role of courts and lawyers in African countries. This study therefore helps us to understand to what extent process theories might be applicable outside the geographical and cultural contexts in which they were developed. Further examination of understudied legal frameworks may reveal additional limitations of existing theories and enable the production of new theories.
Access to justice is a fundamental principle that, if abused, could have serious repercussions for the entire justice system. Nevertheless, access to justice is often not sufficiently archived for various reasons, ranging from the economic level to the educational level of members of society. There are many reasons that can impede access to justice. These include geographical barriers, financial and linguistic problems, complex legislation and procedures, and delays in processing cases. However, in this article, we examine four aspects that impede access to justice: language barriers, legal complexity, access to justice, and financial barriers. We will also highlight access to justice in other jurisdictions not as comparative cases, but as examples that can inform our legal reform.