Judicial Service Commission (JSC) / Tume ya Utumishi wa Mahakama
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was established under Article 112 (1)
of the Constitution of The United Republic of Tanzania, it shall be an
Appointments Advisory Commission for Judges and Magistrates in Mainland
Tanzania.
The Judiciary of Tanzania is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in Tanzania. The current judiciary bases its foundation to the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977.Under the Constitution of Tanzania, Justices and Magistrates are independent of the government and subject only to the Constitution and the law. The country has a dual juristition system where there is a judicial structure responsible for Tanzania Mainland and another for Zanzibar. The Court of Appeal of the United Republic was established in 1979 as the final appellate judicial body with jurisdiction over the entire union.
Once the British assumed control of Tanganyika in 1920, through Article 17 of the Tanganyika Order in Council, 1920 established the High Court of Tanganyika. The British set up a dual hierarchy system which consisted of the High Court and Subordinate Courts which primarily operated according to English Common Law.
Tanganyika gained its independence in 1961 and went through several rounds of interim constitutions before establishing the current constitution in 1977. By this time the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar had been concluded and a dual jurisdiction system was formed where Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar maintained their own judicial hierarchy systems.As part of the 1977 constitution an appellate court was established on August 15, 1979 called the Court of Appeal of the United Republic. The court is a successor to the East African Court of Appeal and was founded as a court with jurisdiction over both the mainland and Zanzibar.
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The High Courts was established under article 108(1) of the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. The court has unlimited jurisdiction to handle all types of cases. All appeals from the subordinate courts go to the High Court. The High courts are headed by a Principal Judge. The Principal Judge and other Judges of the High Court are appointed by the President after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission. The High court also has three specialized divisions Commercial, Land & Labour to help expedite cases in these areas
