An assessment of child juvenile detainees’ access to legal aid in Tanzania

Abstract

This study centres on the access to legal aid for child juvenile detainees in Tanzania mainland. The study aims at looking at access to legal aid by child juvenile detainees living in the retention home. Further it aims at understanding the juvenile justice system and to develop strategies for ensuring the the justice system is strengthened by protecting the rights of children who come into conflict with the law. In this study, an investigation was made at the Upanga Retention Home as a starting point where children were interviewed to find out the lived experiences in accessing justice especially free legal aid. The study also stresses that a child juvenile detainee has rights enshrined in various national and international instruments and they deserve to get free legal aid services. These rights should be realised with the help of various stakeholders. It is therefore hoped that the recommendations that have been laid out be forwarded to the relevant stakeholders and that the gaps are tackled in the realisation of access to justice for child juvenile detainees. Chapter one talks about the background of the study, the objectives of the study, the problem statement and the limitations of the study. Chapter two discusses the literature reviewed for this study and the legislative framework. It points out the gaps is the domestic regional and international human rights instruments regarding juvenile justice. The chapter identifies the rights of the child juvenile detainees and discusses some case law that discuss where the law has fallen short in realising the rights of child juvenile detainees in Tanzania. Chapter three talks about the methodology and research methods used when conducting research in the field. It discusses the Grounded approach, human rights approach, actors and structures, and the legal aid approach. The research methods used include the one on one interviews, cases study method as well as observation Chapter four looks at the findings and analysis of the data was collected during the field research. The chapter reveals the voices of the children who are affected by the lack of legal aid as well as the voices of the government officials and legal aid providers who deal with child juvenile detainees. Chapter five talks about the conclusions and recommendations of how to improve the situation of child juvenile detainees gaining access to legal aid in Tanzania. The recommendations section outlines a recommendation for government (different ministries), legal aid providers, and police officers.