Section 210 of the Penal Code (R.E 2022) provides for the duty of persons in charge of dangerous things.
The section states that “it is the duty of every person to use reasonable care and take reasonable precautions to avoid danger if he or she has in his or her charge or under his [or her] control anything that adversely affects the life or health of any person by reason of any omission to perform that duty.”
If a person omits to take precautions against any probable danger from any animal in his or her possession ‘is guilty of an offence’ and ‘is liable to imprisonment for six months’ (Section 234).
Therefore, it is necessary to take reasonable precautions least one becomes liable for being negligent over dangerous things or animals one keeps. So, take care!
Today, I invite you as we come to the end of this year 2023 to reflect on how this column has helped you to know legal issues or court proceedings that you wouldn’t have known had you not read it. As a reminder, this column is meant to help laypersons to know what the law says on issues they are familiar with in life, but which may have legal consequences they are ignorant of.
In this way, it enlightens laypersons on various issues that have legal implications through which little by little they become familiar with some legal issues and court proceedings that will be helpful to them or to their close relatives, friends or to neighbours they could offer advice if they happen to face legal problems.
The column also highly recommends seeking legal aid before seeking court relief or even when a person is summoned to go to court to testify or answer court charges.
Ignorance of the law in Tanzania is not an excuse for legal liability and a person may also lose legal rights where he or she could have claimed them. Section 8 of the Penal Code is clear about this: “Ignorance of the law does not afford any excuse for any act or omission which would otherwise constitute an offence unless knowledge of the law by the offender is expressly declared to be an element of the offence.”
Sometimes it happens that a person witnesses a commission of an offence and the person may be summoned to testify in court because he or she was present when the offence was committed, but because the person is unfamiliar with court proceedings he or she may spoil the evidence and make the guilty party look innocent to the detriment of the innocent party, while if the person testified to the required standard the guilty party would have been found guilty of the offence he or she committed and be convicted of it and be sentenced in accordance with the law.
Other times you may be travelling by a commuter bus and a young man may start using obscene or abusive language in public. But because passengers may not know that using obscene or abusive language is a criminal offence, they may just keep quiet in front of the young man and let him boast the way he likes because he knows nobody can take legal action against him.
This happens from time to time, while fellow passengers who hear the young man speak like that do not know what to do in the circumstances.
Sometimes it happens on the streets, bus-stops or business centres where people go to buy or sell goods. After insulting others, some young men may boast that nobody can do anything to them because their relative is a police officer, a soldier, a lawyer or a senior government official.
Yet, Section 89(1) of the Penal Code (R.E. 2022) states that: “Any person who - (a) uses obscene, abusive or insulting language to any other person in such a manner as is likely to cause a breach of the peace; or (b) brawls or, in any other manner, creates a disturbance in such a manner as is likely to cause a breach of the peace, is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for one year.”
Black’s Law Dictionary defines a breach of the peace as “A violation or disturbance of the public tranquillity and order [which] includes all violations of public peace or order and acts tending to a disturbance thereof…” Law Dictionary [Second Edition (P.H. Collins)] defines the breach of the peace simply as “creating a disturbance which is likely to annoy or frighten people.”
The law is there to protect you whenever your rights or the rights of another person are threatened or violated.
So, there are many things this column may have enlightened you that can help you get an idea of what the law says or how to go about court proceedings and the columnist believes you might have gained something of relevance to you in the course of time.
Of course, there are many laws and are amended from time to time so it is difficult for a layperson to know all the laws and the amendments made. But this is not an excuse to be ignorant of the law the layperson is subject to.
So, keep familiarising yourself with the law you are subject to and with court proceedings little by little because it is good for you and you may also help other people who have legal problems and may not know what to do in the circumstances.
Today’s legal maxim: “The practice of the court is the law of the court.”
The author is a Dar es Salaam-based lawyer. He can be reached at t22magobe@gmail.com
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