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Browsing Law by Author "Mkami, Baraka"

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    Access to criminal justice and laws governing powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Tanzania: lessons from India and the United Kingdom
    (The University of Dodoma, 2021) Mkami, Baraka
    This thesis provides a legislative analysis on access to criminal justice and powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Tanzania with a view of drawing lessons from the United Kingdom and India. The researcher employed documentary review and field data collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The main objective of this study was to examine how the exercise of the powers vested on the DPP by the laws may infringe the enjoyment of the right of access to criminal justice in Mainland Tanzania. In the light of the stated objective, the central hypothesis of the undertaking was that exercise of powers vested on the DPP by the laws infringes the enjoyment of the right of access to criminal justice in Mainland Tanzania. The study established that the exercise of the DPP‟s powers to certify in writing the denial of bail, enter nolle prosequi, withdrawal of proceedings and take over proceedings instituted by a private prosecutor result in infringement of the right of access to criminal justice. The infringement of the right of access to criminal justice by the DPP has its basis in the laws governing the powers of the DPP. Such laws give wide discretionary powers to the DPP without adequate control mechanisms, as such; the DPP is likely to violate the accused person’s right to access the criminal justice system. Also, the study establishes that Section 148 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act, Section 36 (2) of the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act and Section 19 of the National Security Act deny the courts powers to control the exercise of the DPP’s powers in criminal proceedings. In so doing, they infringe and negate the right of access to criminal justice in Mainland Tanzania. Moreover, this study found out that, in the UK and India, the law and practice protect and safeguard the right of access to criminal justice by limiting the powers of the DPP compared to Tanzania’s laws. Finally, the study recommends that there is a dire need for reform of laws governing the powers of the DPP in Mainland Tanzania to uphold the right of access to criminal justice.