Bail in Mainland Tanzania: An Overview of DPP’S Certificate on Denial of Bail

Abstract

Bail is a universally recognized fundamental human right. The right requires a person not be forfeited his liberty except after he has been proven guilty, in accordance with the law. The law relating to bail occupies an important position in the administration of criminal justice. Unusually, the Criminal Procedure Act, National Security Act and the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act have placed the DPP with the power to certify in writing the denial of bail. The DPP’s power to certify in writing the denial of bail has a tremendous effect on the administration of criminal justice. This article analyses the DPP’s power to certify in writing the denial of bail and its legal implications in the criminal justice of Tanzania. This article establishes that DPP’s power to issue bail certificate is uncontrolled, thus power is prone to abuse. The article inter alia finds out that the DPP’s certificate violates principle of equality before the law and right of fair hearing, it ousts mandate of Courts to grant bail, it violates separation of power, it makes bailable and non bailable offences redundant, it makes DPP a custodian of public interest instead of the Court and it leads to prisons and remands congestion. It is recommended that there is a need to entrench limitations through legislative framework, including empowering the Court to set a time limit on the operation of the DPP’s certificate.