Publication:
Judicial Reform and Commercial Justice : The Experience of Tanzania's Commercial Court

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (31.58 KB)
270 downloads
Published
2004
ISSN
Date
2012-06-26
Editor(s)
Abstract
Policymakers in developing and transition economies recognize the important role played by judiciaries in creating an institutional environment conducive to robust private sector activity. In the case of Tanzania, the government, with the support of local business groups, international investors, and the donor community, created a specialized court dedicated to considering and resolving commercial and financial cases. The Commercial Division of the High Court of Tanzania (the "Commercial Court"), established in 1999, has demonstrated an ability to resolve commercial cases in a relatively efficient manner. This note examines the background behind the creation of the Commercial Court, summarizes the Court's structure and operation, and offers a brief assessment of its performance and impact.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Finnegan, David Louis. 2004. Judicial Reform and Commercial Justice : The Experience of Tanzania's Commercial Court. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9150 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    The Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil in the Federal District Courts of Mexico : A Study of the Uses and Users of Justice and Their Implications for Judicial Reform
    (Washington, DC, 2002-06-22) World Bank
    The report reviews the research conducted in Mexico's Federal District courts on the summary debt collection proceedings - Juicio Ejecutivo Mercantil (JEM) - as a result of a specific request from the Government, to study the judiciary's impact on contract enforcement, as well as because of the Bank's assistance strategy, which emphasizes on supporting improved governance, and an enabling environment for private sector development. Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter briefly summarizes debates about judicial reform, and their political, theoretical, and empirical foundations, while chapter 3 discusses the objectives, and methodology of the study. Chapter 4 provides an overview of the Mexican judicial system, and Federal District courts. Starting with Chapter 5, the most important research findings are reported: it analyzes the users of the commercial justice. Interestingly, the principal parties to the proceedings are individuals, claims are relatively small, and, a 90 percent of those cases where a judgment is delivered, favors the plaintiff. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 report findings on the trajectory of JEM cases, and its dynamic perspective, that assumes different paths, and reaches diverse outcomes. Some of the recommendations include improved supervision regarding bailiffs resolution; formalization of execution proceedings, and, reconsideration of the nature of due process guarantees in commercial proceedings.
  • Publication
    Donor Experiences in Supporting Reforms to the Investment Climate for Small Enterprise Development
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003) White, Simon
    A country's business environment can influence the potential of small enterprises to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. Small enterprises require reforms to the business environment that are more specific than those required for private sector development. The international community, through bilateral and multilateral donor and development agencies, can contribute to the quality of reforms undertaken by governments in developing countries by sharing their own experience, diagnostic tools and technical assistance.
  • Publication
    Investment Climate Reform, Competition Policy and Economic Development: Some Country Experiences
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003) Preston, John
    A survey of countries reveals that most have sought seriously to improve their investment climates through changes in their business regulatory laws, including competition policy, and administration. The survey also found that there is broad agreement that competition policy is important for economic development yet very few countries indeed have attempted to quantify the impact of competition policy. A diminishing, but still significant, number of developing countries do not have a competition law.
  • Publication
    Managing Investment Climate Reforms: The Peru Urban Land Reform Case Study
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004) Endo, Victor
    The urban land policy reforms implemented in Peru since 1996 aimed at the creation of a system able to assure formal rights to real property in large urban settlements. This case study looks at the factors that motivated reform, how the reform process itself was managed, the results, and lessons learned.
  • Publication
    Managing Investment Climate Reforms: Colombian Ports Sector Reform Case Study
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004) Navarrete, Camilo
    The case of the Colombian ports sector reform illustrates how a concrete and decisive action to remove inefficiencies in the provision of public services may render substantial benefits to the economy as a whole. In the Colombian case, reform was framed within a much broader set of structural changes aimed at modernizing the economy and attaining a higher degree of international exposure. This paper describes the situation of Colombian ports before the reform including a discussion of the political and economic context at the time, critical aspects of reform formulation and implementation and the impacts of reform on transportation costs and on operational efficiency.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Business Ready 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03) World Bank
    Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, January 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16) World Bank
    Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Commodity Markets Outlook, April 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-29) World Bank
    Commodity prices are set to fall sharply this year, by about 12 percent overall, as weakening global economic growth weighs on demand. In 2026, commodity prices are projected to reach a six-year low. Oil prices are expected to exert substantial downward pressure on the aggregate commodity index in 2025, as a marked slowdown in global oil consumption coincides with expanding supply. The anticipated commodity price softening is broad-based, however, with more than half of the commodities in the forecast set to decrease this year, many by more than 10 percent. The latest shocks to hit commodity markets extend a so far tumultuous decade, marked by the highest level of commodity price volatility in at least half a century. Between 2020 and 2024, commodity price swings were frequent and sharp, with knock-on consequences for economic activity and inflation. In the next two years, commodity prices are expected to put downward pressure on global inflation. Risks to the commodity price projections are tilted to the downside. A sharper-than-expected slowdown in global growth—driven by worsening trade relations or a prolonged tightening of financial conditions—could further depress commodity demand, especially for industrial products. In addition, if OPEC+ fully unwinds its voluntary supply cuts, oil production will far exceed projected consumption. There are also important upside risks to commodity prices—for instance, if geopolitical tensions worsen, threatening oil and gas supplies, or if extreme weather events lead to agricultural and energy price spikes.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, June 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10) World Bank
    The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.