An Overview of The Zanzibar Legal System; The Scottish Comparative Perspective

The Scottish Act 2012 sets out amendments to the Scotland Act 1998, intending to devolve further powers to Scotland. The 2012 Act transformed a part of judiciary jurisdiction from a vertical to a horizontal system to ensure that the High Court of Justiciary retained the power ultimately to resolve cases once the Supreme Court has determined the legal question at issue. Under the horizontal system, the decisions are not subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The said transformation brought a huge discussion within and outside the United Kingdom questioning the system's effectiveness and the union's health. The transformation imitated the uniqueness of the Scottish practice of criminal law and procedure which positively attracted some other states like Zanzibar. The Zanzibar Tenth Constitutional Amendment, 2010 removed some Union ties to the isles’ jurisdiction by drawing the horizontal practices on fundamental rights cases, in other words, the Court of Appeal of Tanzania which is the union organ, has no power to review the decision made by the High Court Judge in any case relating to fundamental rights. The criticisms and arguments across the globe have proven to have zero risk on legalism no diminishing court jurisdiction on any side of those unions. However, horizontal justice proved to be effective by improving rationalization and providing an innovative opportunity to enforce justice easily and in affordable ways in accessing justice.