Q&A – 3 January 2011
Same sex marriage
Does the law in Tanzania allow same sex marriage, and if so, can the partners adopt a child? I am informed that the marriage laws have been amended and such relationships are now recognized. If so what is the procedure? What about temporary marriages? Can a man in Tanzania have more than one wife?
KL, Dar
The law of marriage act has not been amended and same sex marriages, as is the case in most jurisdictions, are illegal. The law in Tanzania has defined marriage as a voluntary union of a man and a woman intended to last for their joint lives. With this definition, temporary marriages, whatever you meant by that, are also disallowed.
A monogamous marriage is a union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
A polygamous marriage is a union in which the husband may during the subsistence, of the marriage be married to or marry another woman or women. According to the law there are two kinds of marriages namely those that are monogamous or are intended to be monogamous and those that are polygamous or are potentially polygamous. As per the law, marriages contracted in Islamic form or according to rites recognized by customary law in Tanganyika, are presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be polygamous or potentially polygamous; and in any other case, be presumed to be monogamous, unless the contrary is proved. We thus answer the last part of your question in the affirmative.
3% fees at Commercial Court
We are a company registered in South Africa having supplied goods to a company based in Tanzania. Our relation with the purchaser has gone sour and we intend to take them to Court. Our appointed attorneys have quoted us Court fees of 3% on a claim of about tsh 4billion and legal fees of an equal amount. Are these fees not exorbitant? What is the average time to completion of the case at the Commercial Court?
GJ, J’Burg
The Commercial Court is a preferred Court for the business community in Tanzania. The fee at the Commercial Court is 3% of the first Tsh 200M, and 1% on amounts above the Tsh 200M. Hence for the Tsh 4 billion claim, the Court fee will be Tsh 6M plus Tsh 38M totaling Tsh 44M. The figure you have been quoted of Tsh 120M is definitely in error. We do not wish to comment on the legal fees you have been quoted as this is a commercial decision.
Presently the Commercial Court takes an average of about 14 to 16 months to complete cases. It however depends on the complexity of the matter and whether it involves any applications. The Commercial Court is very serious about the pace with which matters get disposed and is weary of delaying tactics by attorneys.
We also wish to pre warn you since you are not a Tanzanian registered entity, it is likely that the defendant, your debtor, will apply for security for costs. You should prepare funds for such an application to avoid delays.
Power of attorney donor dead
A close relative of mine gave a power of attorney to his lawyer to act on his behalf for the sale of a certain property in Shinyanga. Unfortunately the relative died and the lawyer seems to be misusing the power of attorney. How does such a power work? Can the power only be given to an attorney? When a power of attorney is given, does it also mean that the proceeds of sale go to the person holding the power of attorney?
CV, Mwanza
Power of attorney is an authority given by one person to another to act on his or her behalf. The power dies when the donor, in this instance your relative, died. After death the Will of the donor comes into effect and the lawyer has no right and cannot act on this power of attorney.
As for the proceeds of the sale of property, it is important for you to read the power of attorney. The power of attorney would allow the donee to act for the donor (giver of the power of attorney) but does not necessarily mean that the donee gets to retain the amounts raised under the transaction. In the transaction you have mentioned, if the transaction was done after the death of the relative of yours, the power of attorney had expired and the person who had been given the power has acted without any power and any contract he has entered into is void.
Although the word power of attorney somehow denotes that an attorney is involved, the power does not have to necessarily be given to an attorney.
Suit filed in error
I sued a company in Dar for breach of contract only to find out, after instituting the suit that the breach was not caused by fault of the party I sued. It has now come to my attention that one of my fellow directors, who has been away for a year now for treatment overseas, had apparently approved the delay in delivery under the contract which is the subject matter of the suit. I was unaware and proceeded to sue the company? What do you suggest I do now? Did my fellow director act beyond his powers?
JJ, Dar
Under our law, after a suit has been instituted, a plaintiff may at any time, withdraw the suit. In your case you are at liberty to do so only that the defendant might claim costs. You also should be extra sure about the withdrawal as in after withdrawing, the law will bar you from reinstituting the suit again. In answering this question, we assume you are the only plaintiff in the suit.
Unfortunately we are not in a position to answer the second part of your question as we do not have enough details. We must however point out to you that it is quite surprising to note how you as directors are not communicating. It can be costly to your company in the future not only pertaining to this case but other business matters. You must remedy this kind of miscommunication immediately.