Table of Contents
The right to speedy trial is a right afforded to accused person once the commission of the crime is sough, this mean that the trial should not exceed the normal length of hearing hence it is very important to protect the right to speedy trial in our administration of justice so as to overcome defendants complain about unreasonable delay of the cases. In order to insure this right is persevered, the countries itself must make more effort in implementation of law and law enforcer to avoid delay.
Delay of delivering of justice is a violation of accused constitution right as prescribed in the section 12 (6) (e) of Zanzibar constitution and other international instrument based on right of human being protection. However, this right most of the time is violated by police officers, prosecutors or judges and even accused person himself by any way either justifiable or unjustifiable reasons.
Rights to speedy trial usually begin during the arrest and detention of a suspect or during the initial stage of charges against the accused person . Then where the court could not continue with the case it may dismiss the case against accused person accordingly. In this regards, in Zanzibar we need fair trial that may help administration of justice to act fairly and give confident to the communities during the trial cases.
127 our experts are availableright now
We have to notes that, Zanzibar constitution and it criminal procedural law should obey the right to speedy trial as mentioned section therein but the problem here is the way to ensure implemented power to overcome delay of criminal justice by looking effectiveness of judges, reason for delay is conclusively, speedy of case investigation, preparation of prosecutions and the assertion of accused person regarding right to speedy his/her trial. Therefore, Criminal procedures Act is responsible to enforce those rights of accused person which is guaranteed by the constitution of Zanzibar included the rights to a speedy trial.
Background of the Study
Criminal justice is system of law and practice governed by government in order to uphold social control, to deter and mitigates crime, and to sanction these who violate the laws with penalties and rehabilitates them. In criminal justice all accused of crime have some protections according the law. The systems of criminal justice also are differing from one state to another state.
The main purpose of criminal justice is to ensure that everyone receives his right due to legal procedure set out by the country hence the existence of a court in our society is very fundamental issue because people do not take the law into their hands and believe that they will deliver justice through court process even if they are suffering economically, mentally and physically during their case. This means that justice should be managed and given to the person on time as well as given in line with the principle of nature justice.
The entire judicial system of Zanzibar had many challenges since 50 years ago and a lot of complaints were made concern with delay of delivered justice in criminal cases. But it is not surprise by the way, because even developing countries experience this problem of delay in criminal case. According to common law system requirement the right to speed hearing is a basis for criminal justice. Therefore, there is no one contradict with legal statement which say that justice delayed is justice denied. However, Zanzibar is one among the country which experienced with this problem of delay in criminal cases as the statistic show that the rate of disposal of the case is lower than the rate of un-disposal cases.
On the other hand, we must also guard against undue speed in the matter of disposal of cases because this will be substituting one evil for another evil. Any stress on speedy disposal of cases at the cost of substantial justice would impair the faith and confidence of the people in the judicial system. It has to be born in mind that in the disposal of cases certain procedural requirements which ensure fair trial and satisfy the demands of justice have to be followed.
But, as time goes by the society developed and more scientific inventions took place as well as more criminal offences have been committed which leads to more criminal trials to be conducted. As a result society experienced the problem of delays in criminal trial. And this has been day to day cry of the people of this country on respect of access of justice.
However, the question of delaying in disposal of criminal justice appears not only at domestic level but also at international level and our country Tanzania is one among the contracting state which has signed and ratified various international conventions so as to ensure people’s rights and protect them through legal system.
Statement of the Problem
The statements made by President of Zanzibar Dr, Ali Mohd Shein during the opening a new building of high court of Chake-Chake Southern part of Pemba said that “Speeding up case hearing minimizes inconveniences, reduces time consumption and cuts costs, however, lack of efficiency in the judiciary system may derail the country from peace and stability.’ However, in Zanzibar the violation of rights to a speedy trial still exist in various stage of criminal proceedings even though this rights are protected by Zanzibar constitution article 12 (6) (e) “case should be tried within reasonable time”. The number of cases in our courts is increasing day-by-day. The time taken on average case is more than five years. Therefore, denial of justice through delay is the biggest problem in law. I observed that in our court a lot of cases are pending hence huge cases are pending for disposal in the high court as well as in the subordinate court. The lower court precedes over 14 cases per day on an average out of which 15 are adjourned. Therefore, the delivery of justice comes after the death of justice seeker or at the time where such justice is meaningless.
The aims of this research is to study causes of delay of justice in Zanzibar especially during investigation stage and court hearing, since this right to speedy trial has been recognized as a fundamental right and guarantee by the constitution of Zanzibar and other international instruments,
Research Question
- What are the problems which cause delay of justice in criminal cases during the investigation and court hearing in Zanzibar?
- Whether Zanzibar laws related to the rights to speedy trial are well implemented?
- What are the remedies available for delay of justice in criminal cases?
Research Objectives
- To investigates problem causing delay of criminal cases during the investigation and court hearing in Zanzibar.
- To make assessments on Zanzibar laws especially in the issue related to the rights to speedy trial.
- To look forward the remedies of delay of justice in Zanzibar is considerable to the parts
Significances of the Research
The finding of this study will be very important due to the following reasons:
- The finding of this study will address the institution which deals with criminal justice that there is an urgent need to speed up the court process in order for suspected person to be convicted or acquitted immediately. Doing so will help all those who are not guilty to return to the community to continue with their working activities instead of wasting their time before the court, remand and even to live without stress for endless case.
- This study will bring awareness to citizen of Tanzania that the right to speedy trial is the fundamental rights guarantee by Zanzibar constitution and Tanzania constitution. By getting awareness citizens will know what their rights during the police investigation and at court hearing because the right to speedy trial is not right which need application to have it but its mandatory right guarantee by constitutions.
- Another significance of this study based on academic level, my finding of this study will be used as a reference for students who describe this problem of delaying of disposal in criminal case.
- My research will bring greater importance to me too, because the community will respect me as well as the government will see my contribution openly. Probably but not sure to write this study will give me more opportunities in my state.
