Streamlining Justice or Compromising Fairness? The Impact of the Overriding Objective in Tanzania.

The year 2018 witnessed the introduction of the new legal principle by the Government of the United republic of Tanzania commonly referred to as “the overriding objective principle.” This was done through Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018). The aim of the legislative process was to promote substantive justice and to give statutory effect to the contents of Article 107A (2) (e) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977. Article 107A (2) (e) of the Constitution directs the courts of law: To dispense justice without being tied up with technicalities provisions, which may obstruct dispensation of justice. Therefore, strictly speaking, the new law was not creating anything new, but rather amplifying what the Constitution had already provided back in 2005 when that provision was entered into the mother law. However, since the enactment of this law, the principle of “overriding principle” has become a cause of many challenges in legal circles in the United Republic of Tanzania. the judiciary as the temple of justice has been in a great task of fighting against the legal technicalities that hinder attainment of substantive justice. This article deals with application, impact and challenges of the overriding objective principle in the administration of justice in Tanzania