Description
Certificate of point of law – appeals from Ward Tribunals –procedural technicalities – principle of overriding objective – substantial justice – members of the Ward Tribunal.
- Certificate of point of law – a certificate from the High Court is mandatory for appeals from Ward Tribunals, and should not be taken perfunctorily or lightly by the certifying High Court and by the parties to the impending appeal. A certificate of the High Court predicates the jurisdiction of the Court in land matters (p. 7).
- A decision of the High Court refusing to grant a certificate of point of law under section 47(2) of the Land Disputes Courts Act, is final and no appeal against it lies to the Court of Appeal (p. 7).
- Where the High Court has certified points of law in appeals originating from Ward Tribunals, the grounds of appeal filed in the Court must substantially conform to the points of law which the High Court has certified (pp. 7 – 8).
- The Court should not read additional procedural technicalities into the simple and accessible way the Ward Tribunals in Tanzania conduct their daily business (pp. 12 – 13).
- Section 4(4) of the Ward Tribunals Act does not prescribe that the record of the proceedings must show the member who presided the proceedings when the chairman was marked absent (p 13).
- With the advent of the principle of overriding objective brought by the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Act, 2018 [Act No. 8 of 2018] which now requires the courts to deal with cases justly, and to have regard to substantial justice; section 45 of the Land Disputes Courts Act shall be given more prominence to cut back on over-reliance on procedural technicalities (pp. 13 – 14).
- Failure to identify the member who presided over the proceedings of the Ward Tribunal when the Chairman was absent did not occasion any failure of justice to the appellant (meaning that the failure was not fatal) (p. 15).
