BY MARY GWERA
Judiciary Dodoma
The Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Mustapher Mohamed Siyani has said that, the Tanzania Legal Institute Information (TanzLII) user interface has improved constantly, making it more user-friendly and allowing more specific searches.
Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Mustapher Mohamed Siyani (centre) in a group photo with part of delegates from Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria. The first on the right side is the Chief Registrar of Judiciary of Tanzania, Hon. Eva Kiaki Nkya.
Speaking to Senior Judicial officials with the Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria earlier today on June 03rd, 2025 in his office at Judiciary of Tanzania Headquarters in Dodoma, Hon. Dr. Siyani has said TanzLII has now become an essential source of legal information, having been accessed by over 2.6 million visitors from various countries around the world, including both civil and common law jurisdictions.
“With TanzLII, judgments and rulings from the Court of Appeal of Tanzania and the High Court of Tanzania are published regularly. As of May 30th, 2025, more than 101,590 court decisions have been uploaded to TanzLII. The High Court of Tanzania sub-registries and divisions contribute to 84.53 percent of published decisions, while the Court of Appeal of Tanzania contributes 15.47 percent,” said the Principal Judge.
He further insisted that, the successful publication of Court of Appeal and High Court decisions, can be attributed to the reform orientation adopted by Judiciary of Tanzania’s top leaders, and the link between the number of uploaded decisions and the effective performance of judicial duties.
The Principal Judge added that, the use of TanzLII has gone hand in hand with digitalization of old court records and cases, allowing more access to recent and old court decisions and that the implementation of TanzLII has been greatly improved by adopting the Judiciary of Tanzania electronic Case Management System (JoT-eCMS) allowing Judges and Magistrates to conduct paperless proceedings.
“JoT e-CMS allows a judicial officer to record proceedings, draft decisions, and publish them. It is linked to the Judiciary’s e-library service, which feeds TanzLII,” he emphasized.
Hon. Dr. Siyani said, in an effort to enhance the public’s access to legal information, an offline or downloadable version of TanzLII named Pocket Law was made available. It’s use is for areas with no or unreliable internet access.
However, Hon. Dr. Siyani told the officials from Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria that, any judicial reform is impossible without top leadership commitment giving an example of the digitization efforts in Tanzania was a result of among others, commitment of top leaders.
On her side, the Director of African Legal Information Institute (AfricanLII), Ms. Mariya Badeva stated that, she is proud of what has been achieved particularly on TanzLII performance.
“I am just proud of what we have achieved with TanzLII, we have walked a long way to reach where we are now, we have uploaded over 100,000 judgments on TanzLII,” said Ms Badeva while adding that, TanzLII has been expanded well beyond the initial scope discussed in 2018 when it was introduced.
Meanwhile the GIZ Access to Justice Program Coordinator, Mr. Brahim Muhamet, said GIZ has been working for a long time with the Judiciary of Tanzania, and the visit is one of the milestones that have been achieved by working together.
“This visit is very important, we are extremely proud to be here today and share experience, exchange views and learning from one another,” said Mr. Muhamet.
The Ghana Court of Appeal Justice and Member of the e-Judgment Committee, Hon. Jenniffer Abena Dadzie applauded the Judiciary of Tanzania for the biggest achievement in the use technology in dispensation of justice in the country.
Presenting a topic namely ‘Introduction to TanzLII and Where We Are’, the Director of Library Services- Judiciary of Tanzania and a TanzLII Coordinator, Hon. Kifungu Kariho said in 2018, the Judiciary of Tanzania embarked on a benchmarking exercise across South Africa, Namibia, and Nigeria.
Ultimately, Tanzania adopted the Namibian model, where Judges' assistants were tasked with uploading court decisions onto NamibLII, diverging from the approaches in South Africa (utilizing the University of Cape Town) and Nigeria (Law Pavilion).
Below are some photos of Senior officials with the Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria when they met the Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania today on June 03rd, 2025 at Judiciary of Tanzania Headquarters in Dodoma.
The Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Mustapher Mohamed Siyani speaking to Senior officials with the Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria (not in picture) when they visited his office today June 03rd, 2025 at Judiciary of Tanzania Headquarters in Dodoma.
The Chief Court Registrar of Judiciary of Tanzania says a word during a meeting held between the Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Mustapher Siyani (not in picture) with delegates from the Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria.
Principal Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Mustapher Mohamed Siyani (centre) in a group photo with part of delegates from Judiciary of Ghana and Nigeria. The first on the right side is the Chief Registrar of Judiciary of Tanzania, Hon. Eva Kiaki Nkya.
(Photos by MARY GWERA, Judiciary of Tanzania-Dodoma).
Hon. Kariho said, the growth of TanzLII's database of legal decisions has been remarkably rapid where by in 2018, the platform hosted more than 3,572 uploaded decisions.
“TanzLII 2020 facilitated access to a broad publication of Tanzania Law Reports between 2007 and 2020. It also assisting collection of court decisions for ongoing publication of the Tanzania Law Reports from 2021 to 2024, with a future strategy of annual and quarterly releases,” he said.
The delegation has come in Tanzania to learn, share and discuss various operations of the Judiciary of Tanzania, including how the Tanzania Legal Information Institute-TanzLII works, getting to know overview of related electronic system managed by the Judiciary of Tanzania Virtual Situation Room and others.