A Compulsory Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Award of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree of Mzumbe University
This study presents an assessment of the existing commercial law in Tanzania particularly the Electronic Transactions Act, whether or is compatible with electronic contracts. Practices of electronic commerce in Tanzania today is very popular. Tanzanian is able to enter into business agreements within the country and outside the country through online transactions and the law is said to become a major challenge to e-commerce. The Electronic Transactions Act is the principal law in Tanzania which govern electronic contracts, but there some aspects which the law did not cover, particularly the issue relating to jurisdiction. Also, it is difficult to identify the capacity of the parties under the electronic contract. So far there is no amendment or provision under the Electronic Transactions Act which provide for the issue of jurisdictions, despite the technology advancements which changed the modes of contractual arrangement today.
Therefore, the research discusses challenges of electronic contracts in Tanzania and specifically on how the Electronic Transactions Act of 2015 addresses aspects of jurisdiction in electronic contracts and the challenge of electronic contract on identification of parties, e.g., how does the seller know the capacity of other party?. So the purpose of the research is to examine challenges which face the implementation of Electronic Transactions Act in Tanzania.
To acquire data, the researcher employed both field data collection and library research. Methods which were employed were Interviews, questionnaire and documentary reviews. In short, the electronic contracts are valid contracts equally the same as those in paper-based contracts. These findings show how consumer needs to be protected, and that the government should work towards having a comprehensive law on electronic transactions. Ultimately, the researcher winds up by giving recommendations that will enable the effective dealing with jurisdictional matters and capacity of the parties on Electronic Transactions.