ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS IN TANZANIA

ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS IN TANZANIA

Definition of Administrative Tribunals;

There is no universally accepted definition of the term Administrative Tribunals or simply 'tribunal' as per professor Jain. However, jurists, academicians, and administrators (politicians) have made several attempts to explain the same. Here are some definitions of different authors;

Thakker (Takwani, 1998):  Are bodies established to decide various quasi-judicial issues in place of ordinary courts.

Supreme Court of India, 1954 Are adjudicative bodies constituted, manned and operated by the executive.

L.B. Curzon, Dictionary of Law, 6th Ed., 2002 (Pearson/Longman): Are bodies outside the hierarchy of the courts with administrative or judicial functions.

Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., 2001: A body established to settle certain types of dispute.

E.W. Susan, Law Dictionary, 2006 (Webster's New World Law Dictionary): An officer or other judicial body with the authority to pronounce judgment on a matter based upon the evidence.

From these Authors, Administrative Tribunal/Tribunal may be referred to as a person or body of persons or administrative agency not forming part of the Judiciary with limited statutory powers to determine disputes and pass binding decisions between individuals, or individuals and officers in the Department of the government.

Other names for Administrative Tribunals

Administrative tribunals are also known as "Quasi-judicial Bodies", or "Statutory Tribunals".

Why do we call them 'administrative tribunals' or 'quasi-judicial bodies' or 'statutory tribunals?

They are known as administrative tribunals because as opposed to ordinary courts, these bodies are composed and chaired by lay administrators (normally, non-lawyers) who are either appointees' of the President or Minister for a fixed term.

They are referred to as quasi-judicial bodies since they are not full-fledged courts (i.e. not courts of law properly so called, they have supplemental/complementally role to the Courts).

They are called statutory tribunals simply because they are creations of the statute.

Types and examples of Administrative Tribunals in Tanzania

Administrative tribunals are classified into two (2) major components,

·         Statutory authority,

·         Statutory tribunal.

(a) Statutory Authority:

This refers to individual holders of public offices who have statutory powers to hear disputes (in original or appellate jurisdiction/capacity). For example, labour officers and Minister for Labour in certain circumstances have statutory powers to entertain and make decisions on labour disputes between an employer and employee/s. **A 'single' person exercises judicial powers.

  (b) Statutory Tribunals:

These are adjudicative body or agency established by specific Acts of Parliament. Usually, the establishing statute will provides for composition (i.e. appointing authority, qualifications and etc), membership tenure, quorum, procedures and etc. **A 'group' of persons exercises judicial powers.Examples; Military Tribunal (Court Martial), The Tax Revenue Appeals Board,The Environmental Appeals Tribunal,The Fair Competition Tribunal,The District Land and Housing Tribunal,The Ward Tribunal and etc.

INTRODUCTION

ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS Administrative tribunals are established by Acts of Parliament. An administrative tribunal is a body which is given the powers of an administrative or quasi-judicial nature. These may be regarded as a separate courts dealing with some specific rights and duties. Administrative tribunals established in Kenya include the Industrial Court and the Rent Restriction Tribunal. These are explained as under: 

Kenya Industrial Court:  There is the Kenya Industrial Court which has been established in accordance with the provisions of "The Trade Dispute Act Chapter 234". The main objective of this court is to give judgements in trade disputes between employers and employees. Cases such as dismissal of employees, non-payment of dues to employees etc can be taken to the Industrial Court. 

The Judge of Industrial Court is appointed by the President and four other members are appointed by the Minister for Labour. The Judge of this court is appointed by the President for a term of not less than five years. He should be an advocate of the High Court of not less than seven year's standing. It means he should posses the same qualification as that of a Judge of the High Court. The four members who are to be appointed by the Minister for Labour, should be appointed for terms of not less than three years. 

The Minister for Labour appoints these members after consultation with the Minister for Finance, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Kenya Employers. One of the aforesaid members is appointed by the Minister for Labour to be Deputy to the Judge. The Judge of the Court also has power to appoint two assessors, one to represent employers and one to represent employees from a panel of assessors appointed by the Minister, to assist in the determination of any trade dispute before the court. The Judge and the four members are eligible for reappointment. 

The decision of Industrial Court in any trade dispute is regarded final. If any employee is dismissed without any lawful reason then the Industrial Court may order the employer to reinstate that employee. According to the Trade Disputes Act, any trade dispute must be reported in writing to the Minister for Labour by employer or employee or trade union or employers organization. The Minister can inform the concerned parties about his decision. In some cases, he can advise the concerned parties to take that dispute to the Industrial Court. If the Minister has given any decision regarding a trade dispute then an appeal can be made against this decision in the Industrial Court. 

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Collective agreements, i.e. any agreement between a Trade Union and an employer (or Employer's Federation) relating to terms and conditions of employment are registered with the Industrial Court. The decisions of the Industrial Court are final in the sense that they cannot be questioned or reviewed. 

Rent Tribunals  Rent tribunals are established by the Rent Restriction Act (Cap. 296). The main purposes of these tribunals are to determine the reasonable rents for resodential houses and impose some restrictions on increasing such rents. These tribunals can also investigate complaints made by either tenants or the landlords relating to the tenancy of dwelling houses. A Tribunal has power to assess the standard rent of any dwelling house to which the Act applies, either on the application of any person interested or of its own motion. 

A Tribunal may appoint and employ valuers, inspectors, clerks and other staff to enable it to carry out its work. A Rent Tribunal is established by the Minister for Housing in such areas as he may think fit. The Minister appoints a chairman for each Tribunal. It consists of a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and a panel of members, consisting of such number of persons as he may think fit, for each tribunal. No person is eligible for appointment as a chairman or deputy chairman of a tribunal unless he is and has been, for not less than five years, an advocate or legal practitioner in Kenya. 

There is the Nairobi Rent Tribunal, the Mombasa Rent Tribunal, the Kisumu Rent Tribunal and so on. Each Tribunal has exclusive administrative jurisdiction. A member of a Tribunal holds office at the discretion of the Minister. A Tribunal is normally presided over by the Chairman or Deputy Chairman and two members selected by the permanent Secretary in charge of housing, from a panel of names approved by the Minister. Any matter before the Tribunal is decided on majority of votes of the members present. The Chairman has a casting vote in case of equality of votes. The Chairman also gives ruling on any point of law which arises. 

The Business Premises Rent Tribunals:  The Business Premises Tribunals are established under section 11 of "The Landlord and Tenants (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act (Cap. 301). This Act defines a "controlled tenancy" as a tenancy of a shop, hotel, or catering establishment, which is in written form and is for a period not exceeding five years.  The term "shop" means premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a retail or wholesale trade, or business, or for the purpose of rendering services for money, or money worth. 

This definition is wide enough to cover offices, clinics, etc. A "hotel" is a place in which meals andoraccommodation; ire supplied, or available for supply, to at least

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five adult persons. A "catering establishment' means premises in which food or drink is sold for consumption on the premises by - persons boarding on the premises. 

The Business Premises Rent Tribunals are established to set out reasonable tenancy standards and to ensure that the landlords do not charge too high rents for business premises. The powers of these tribunals are set out in section 12 of the Act. 

UGANDA   ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS

 This is an example of Administrative Authorities;

 They are defined as bodies with judicial or quasi-judicial functions set up by statute and they exist outside  the usual judicial hierarchy of courts.

 Tribunals may also mean institutions which are sett up to adjudicate over issues of an administrative nature.

 They are courts of law in a sense that they enjoy judicial powers. However, they can be  distinguished from the ordinary courts of law when one considers the membership and the procedure followed by tribunals. Usually tribunals are set up to handle issues  which in the opinion of parliament cannot be handled conveniently by the ordinary civil service bureaucracy. Administrative Tribunals are judicial or quasi judicial statutory bodies. Tribunals are established for two main reasons: a)To regulate and ensure good administration of government policies and legislation. b)To resolve disputes between public authorities and individuals that may arise in the course of implementation of policies or enforcement of laws To resolve disputes arising between individuals in the course of implementation of policies and laws.

 Why Tribunals?

 The ordinary courts of law are established to resolve disputes and to administer justice in accordance with the Constitution. However, Parliament enacts laws that put in place tribunals to carry out functions that are normally carried out in ordinary courts. This is justified on the following grounds: i)Tribunals have the advantage over courts because they can use experts (over the lawyers) in the resolution of disputes. Some disputes require knowledge beyond the law. For example, valuation courts are better placed to handle valuation disput 

iv)Tribunals may also adopt procedures that are less formal. Courts insist on procedures and cases may be won or lost on a ………. Technically. Tribunals aim at subsistence other than procedural rules. v)Tribunals are also normally not bound by Doctrine of Precedent. Tribunals are free to develop new rules. They are therefore more flexible in the course of administration of justice.

Characteristics of Tribunals

1.Tribunals are creatures of Acts of Parliament. Here below are the examples. Land Act-Land Tribunals Uganda Communications Act-Communication Tribunal The Tax Appeals Tribunal Act-Tax Appeals Tribunal Advocate Act-Disciplinary Committee of the Law Council Labor Disputes Act-Industrial Court Local Government (Rating) Act-Valuation Courts2.Tribunals may be known by various laws. These may be called courts, committees, councils.3.

Membership

 Tribunals are usually composed of persons who reflect the following characteristics:

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Representation of persons with expertise in a particular field. e.g The Valuation Courts are composed of persons with qualifications in matters relating to land e.g. lawyers, valuers and surveyors.

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Representation of interest groups. The key stakeholders are usually represented on tribunals e.g. the Industrial Court has representation of workers and employers.

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Disciplinary Committees of professional bodies are composed of members of that profession e.g. architects, doctors or lawyers.

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Professional legal qualifications are required of the person to be Chair person especially where the tribunal is interdisciplinary e.g. Industrial Court or Tax Appeals Tribunal. A balanced tribunal normally consists of an independent chairman. In Equator Ltd v To masyan; The Business premises Rent Tribunal purported to make an order for the possession of premises in proceedings in which the gazatted chairman of the tribunal did not sit. The appellant applied for a declaration that the proceedings were a nullity and appealed from the dismissal of his suit. On appeal, it was argued that a Tribunal could not be properly constituted when the gazette hairman sat. For the respondent it was argued that the judiciary can attribute the power of guiding others bodies of the government eg. Police, parliament, etc….

In case of administrative tribunals has play big role in guiding people and others government bodies by playing its part of punishing by following the constitution and laws