An Analysis of the Law on Investigation of Criminal cases and Violation of Accused Rights: Case study Kinondoni District in

Msigwa, Yoely Lunoso (2012) An Analysis of the Law on Investigation of Criminal cases and Violation of Accused Rights: Case study Kinondoni District in. Other thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

The law in Tanzania does not provide adequate safeguards to ensure that prosecution of those individuals accused of coming the kinds of acts described as criminal does not involves excessive violation of their basic rights and freedoms entrenched in the Constitution (Bill of Rights). This is because the introduction of Bill of Rights into the Constitution was intended to expand the potential capacity for respect for human rights, basic freedoms, democracy, rule of law, political transparency and good government. At the present moment Tanzania is undergoing profound transformations in its political, social and economic reorganization. This in turn, has resulted in many areas of life coming under legal regulation. The current changes require that the conduct of the state, and especially, that of its law enforcement officials- the courts, the police force, the security system and the prisons should now be judged in the light of human rights and democratic reality. In order to ensure that fundamental rights and freedoms of accused persons are safeguarded, the activities of the institutions named above must be performed within the legal frameworks of the laws which established them and, further must accord with the various international instruments on Human Rights which Tanzania has signed and ratified. The laws which establish them are the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania as amended from time to time, the Police Force Ordinance, the National Security Act, The Criminal Procedure Act, the Prison Act and Evidence Act. The International Instrument is those that are compiled in Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments and consist of: (i) Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, (ii) Regulations on Principles of Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Execution, (iii) The convention on the Rights of the Child, and (iv) the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. The International Instruments incorporate the sum total of norms accepted by the International community to regulate relations amongst states vis a vis their subjects and are also an important source of criminal procedure, especially in the sphere of human rights promotion and protection. This paper seeks to examine and discuss in some detail how prosecutors in this country are supposed to perform their work efficiently while, at the same time, having in mind respect for and promotion and protection of the basic rights and freedoms of those they allege to be criminals.

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