“Nani Aliamua?” Sera ya Lugha na Kitokeacho Mahakamani Tanzania

Abstract

Makala hii inatazama ugumu wa lugha ya sheria na jinsi utekelezaji wa sera ya lugha ya mahakama nchini Tanzania unavyoweza kuathiri juhudi za kutenda haki. Makala imetumia dhamira mbili kati ya tatu za nadharia ya Symbolic Interaction, yaani ‘umuhimu wa maana kwa tabia ya binadamu’, na ‘umuhimu wa kuijenga nafsi kutokana na wenzetu watuonavyo’. Data iliyotumika imetoka kwenye kesi mbili za jinai, na matokeo yanaonyesha kwamba sera ya lugha ya mahakama na mapungufu binafsi huchangia kupunguza ufanisi wa maafisa wa mahakama. Mwenendo uliopo unaweza kuathiri vibaya mtazamo wa jamii kwa mahakama.

This article examines how the difficulty in legal language and the traps inherent to the legal personnel in effecting the Tanzanian legal language policy is likely to inhibit the dispensation of justice. The article uses two themes of Symbolic Interaction Theory, that is, ‘the importance of meanings for human behaviour’, and ‘the importance of the self-concept’ focusing on the assumption that individuals develop self-concepts through interaction with others. Data were drawn from two criminal cases, and results show that both individual linguistic weaknesses of legal personnel and the demands of the legal language policy make justice extremely hard to realize.