Immovable Property Bequests and Matrimonial bounties Rights by Foreigners in Tanzania and Zanzibar: Legislative Enforcement Challenges and Perspectives

Abstract

This paper gives the society a chance to go back to immovable property rights to foreigners that inhere to him or her by virtue of foreign decrees or decisions arising from matrimonial and succession decision. The study focuses on Tanzania and Zanzibar despite the fact that Tanzania includes Zanzibar but Zanzibar stands alone in some matters considered being nonunion. It is because when Tanganyika and Zanzibar united, they signed the Article of union establishing what laws and articles of the union refer to as Union and non-Union Matters, hence land as a non-union matter. However, Zanzibaris can own land In Tanzania mainland but non Zanzibaris cannot own land In Zanzibar. The nature of the union is not the case to this study but observing cross border rights on immobile properties while going to the core issues of extracting conditions from rights as these matters appear to have been left quiet but impending enjoyment of the two. The roadmap to this approach is doctrinal and is lead by the notable decisions of the Courts of Law of Tanzania in Ghalib Abdallah Juma v Kay Mlinga, and a decision in Emmanuel Marangakis as Attorney of Anastasios Anagnostou v Administrator General. The former is the matrimonial decision with foreign bases but to be enforced in Zanzibar while the latter is a probate based decision with foreign beneficiaries of the estates for the deceased and it was and is to be enforced in Tanzania Mainland. This paper advocates that probating foreign and enforcing matrimonial decrees on immovable hinders justice and establish superfluous legal principles over others unnecessarily. Atlast, the conflict of laws becomes uncertain infringing rights of individuals if not taken keenly while losing objectives of Law.