Challenges in enforcement of land rights in courts in Tanzania

Abstract

The paper identifies and addresses two key related challenges that influence the enforcement of land rights in courts in Tanzania. These are ignorance of law and disgraced court proceedings. The paper argues that there are many cases whereby, as a result of ignorance of the law, citizens institute legal proceedings which are dismissed by courts either at the end of a trial or on an appeal. The paper also establishes that ignorance of the law is not only attributable to the ignorance of the law of the lay disputants to a particular law suit, but also to the ignorance of the law by the disputants’ lawyers and, at times, even the ignorance of the law on the part of the courts of law

Keywords: enforcement of land rights in courts, Tanzania, ignorance of the law, lay disputants, disputants’ lawyers, disgraced court proceedings