A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Laws (LL.M. IL) of Mzumbe University
Children in conflict with the law is a phrase which deals with any person who is below the age of eighteen years accused of breaching penal law. International law has placed some principles and standards to be complied by State when dealing with offending children. This study investigated how Zanzibar complies with international law on children in conflict with the law. The study applied case study design. Questionnaires and interview were used to collect primary data direct from the respondents. Several instruments, international, regional and domestic were consulted to get some information on the study. Writings of scholars and government documents were also visited for secondary data. The research found that Zanzibar has very comprehensive legislation that to the large extent replicate the requirements of international law on juvenile justice. However, it was revealed that to the large extent the law is not realized by the juvenile justice stakeholders. The existence of only one Children Court in Zanzibar, insufficient numbers of trained legal professionals and poor mechanism for rehabilitation of delinquent juveniles are factors, among others, to substantiate the minimum implementation of the law. On top, people are not aware of the juvenile justice in general. In this regard, this study put some recommendations including operationalization of the existing Zanzibar Children’s Act. Awareness creation among the people is to be urgently maintained by the government and international cooperation is also of vital importance.