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Sentencing Reform in Tanzania: Moving from Uhuru to Ubuntu?

Sentencing Reform in Tanzania: Moving from Uhuru to Ubuntu? Abstract The scholarly literature on sentencing reform has largely overlooked the African continent. The paucity of legal scholarship is particularly striking with respect to Tanzania, one of Africa's largest and most populous countries. This article explores the first significant sentencing reform in Tanzania's history. In 2020, the Tanzanian judiciary issued a comprehensive set of sentencing guidelines for courts to follow. Until this point, sentencing was a highly discretionary stage of the criminal process, and the Tanzanian penal code offered very little guidance with respect to the exercise of that discretion. After providing a brief summary of the new sentencing regime, we explore the innovative guidance contained in the reforms. In the conclusion we discuss the extent to which the Tanzanian reforms reflect core African values of Ubuntu, or more specifically in the case of Tanzania, Ujamaa, the philosophy popularized by Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of African Law Cambridge University Press

Sentencing Reform in Tanzania: Moving from Uhuru to Ubuntu?

Journal of African Law , Volume 67 (1): 20 – Feb 1, 2023
20 pages

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Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London
ISSN
1464-3731
eISSN
0021-8553
DOI
10.1017/S0021855322000225
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract The scholarly literature on sentencing reform has largely overlooked the African continent. The paucity of legal scholarship is particularly striking with respect to Tanzania, one of Africa's largest and most populous countries. This article explores the first significant sentencing reform in Tanzania's history. In 2020, the Tanzanian judiciary issued a comprehensive set of sentencing guidelines for courts to follow. Until this point, sentencing was a highly discretionary stage of the criminal process, and the Tanzanian penal code offered very little guidance with respect to the exercise of that discretion. After providing a brief summary of the new sentencing regime, we explore the innovative guidance contained in the reforms. In the conclusion we discuss the extent to which the Tanzanian reforms reflect core African values of Ubuntu, or more specifically in the case of Tanzania, Ujamaa, the philosophy popularized by Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere.

Journal

Journal of African LawCambridge University Press

Published: Feb 1, 2023

Keywords: Sentencing reform; sentencing in Tanzania; restorative justice; Ujamaa; Ubuntu

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