52
Alleged breach of the rule of law
120.
The 2nd Applicant argues that by initiating a Constitutional
amendment to settle a legal dispute that was pending before the Courts,
the effect of which was to nullify the judicial settlement of the matter, the
Respondent abused the distinctive process of constitutional amendment
and therefore the principle of the rule of law. The 2nd Applicant
contended that the rule of law is a principle of customary international
law.
The Respondent submitted that the Government of Tanzania fully
adheres to principles of the rule of law, separation of powers and
independence of the judiciary as provided for under the Constitution of
the United Republic of Tanzania.
In response to the 2nd Applicant’s
argument that the 11th constitutional amendment was in violation of the
rule of law, Respondent argued that constitutional review and
amendment is not a new phenomenon in Tanzania and that the
Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania has, so far, undergone
fourteen (14) constitutional amendments. Article 98(1) of the Constitution
provides that the Constitution can be amended at any time when the
need arises and this is what happened in 1994; therefore, the issue of
the rule of law being violated does not arise at all.
121. The Court is of the view that the concept of the rule of law is an allencompassing principle under which human rights fall and so cannot be
treated in abstract or wholesale. Furthermore the Applicants’ claim that
the rule of law has been violated is not related to a specific right;