A Compulsory Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Degree of Mzumbe University
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the enforcement of the
basic rights as enshrined in the Constitution of United Republic of Tanzania in 1984.
This study was necessary because despite the inclusion of the bill of rights in the
constitution and enactment of the procedural law in enforcing such rights, people
have not satisfied with the enforcement of the said rights. It was due to this fact that
this study was conducted so as to expound what is the problem with the enforcement
of the Basic Rights especially through court.
The study was limited only to Tanzania mainland due to the fact that the issue of
Human Rights is not a union matter and the very fact that Zanzibar has its own legal
framework pertaining human rights.
The study involved three methods of data collection i.e. documentary review
interviews and questionnaire whereby the researcher undergone field research and
gathered relevant information from different legal practitioners and ordinary citizens.
The study involved a sample of 34 respondents and random sampling was employed.
The data obtained exposed that there is a serious problem as far as the question of
enforcement of the basic rights is concerned, respondents were of the view that the
difficulty contained in the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act posed a serious
problem in the enforcement of the rights, also the study illustrates that the
Constitution contains a lot of restriction clauses which take away the whole essence
of the Bill of Rights. Inadequate education, unwillingness of the government and
politicization of human rights matters were also demonstrated as another challenges,
among the others.
The study recommends that the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania be
amended so as to remove those restrictions and since human rights are subject to
some restriction then to include in the same, restriction(s) which are proportional and
acceptable in any democratic nation, also the study recommends for the amendment
of the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act so as all problems as shown in
chapter four be resolved. Provision of education to the public and the encouragement
of judicial activism of the judges also appeared to some of the recommendations of
this study.