Tanzania: Economic Crime Act for Review

By Faustine Kapama in Dodoma

THE Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, through the Law Reform Commission, is preparing two evaluation reports on laws enforcement pertaining to alternative punishment systems, with the

Economic Crime Act being among the ones under review.

Moving budget estimates for the Ministry before the National Assembly here yesterday, the Minister Prof Palamagamba Kabudi mentioned other laws under review as the Prisons Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Social Services Act, Parole Board Act and the Minimum Sentence Act.

"The purpose of this review is to determine whether existing laws can be used to reduce overcrowding in prisons, and thus reduce the cost of operating prisons," he said.

The minister pointed out that in the 2020/2021 financial year, the Ministry through the Law Reform Commission has continued to ensure that the laws of the land are reviewed and amended to keep pace with changes in social, economic, political and cultural spheres.

He said that in the period under scrutiny, several systems were reviewed, including the Legal Framework for Legal Representation in Courts, the Legal System for Court Assessors and the Legal System for Labour Dispute Resolution.

"The recommendations contained in these reports are intended to increase the rate for citizens to access justice timely, reliably and in cost-effective manner," Prof Kabudi said. In addition, according to the minister, the Commission has begun conducting research on the Legal Framework that regulates markets of agricultural products in the country.

The research, he said, is being conducted in Dodoma, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Iringa and Njombe regions.

The aim of the study is to identify the challenges of the Agricultural Product Marketing System in Tanzania.

Prof Kabudi also told the House that the other reports on law enforcements to be prepared are related to the improvement of the Tourism Sector.

He named the laws under review as the Tourism Act, Wildlife Act, National Parks Act, National Museum Act, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Act the Archeology Act.

"The Tourism Sector Assessment aims to determine whether existing legislation can be used to increase revenue collection and sustainable management of tourist attractions," said the minister.

Similarly, he said, the Commission has continued to provide legal education to the public through radio programmes, leaflets; law week exhibitions, Nane Nane cerebrations and various conferences for the purpose of raising public awareness of various legal issues.

He pointed out also that in strengthening the criminal justice systems in the country, the Ministry, through the Sustainable Corruption Prevention Program project has finalized a write up of the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Improvement Program and Action Plan.

Such reforms, the minister said, are aimed at strengthening the mechanisms reached in the criminal justice system chain which are crime prevention; identify crimes when they occur; arresting criminals and criminal investigation.

Other areas are the conduct and hearing of cases in court; punishment provision; correction of offenders and monitoring of trends of those who complete their sentences or are released for various reasons.

In addition, he said, the Ministry has continued to provide education to the public on legal procedures, justice as well as the responsibility to report crimes in collaboration with state agencies in controlling bad behavior in the community.