Q&A with FB Attorneys

Wife impregnated by third party

I got married in haste after finding out my girlfriend (now my wife) was pregnant. We both come from very religious families and it was important to tie the knot before anyone discovered the pregnancy. To my disbelief, my wife gave birth to a child who is mixed race.? She claims mixed race blood runs in her family but I do not believe this since I know three generations of her family. I cannot live with this betrayal and want to end my marriage to her.? Please help me.

JK, Shinyanga

We are sorry to hear about your family problems. The Law of Marriage Act, [Cap. 29 R. E. 2019] is the leading authority on all matters related to marriages. According to section 39(a)(iv), a marriage is voidable if at the time of the marriage the wife was pregnant by some person other than the husband.? In this case, the marriage will be considered valid until it is annulled by a decree of the Court. Section 96 and 97 state that a petition for annulment of a marriage may be brought by one of the parties to the marriage and where this is done, the? Court will have power to grant a decree of annulment in respect of any marriage which is voidable provided that where the petition is founded on an allegation that at the time of the marriage the respondent was pregnant by a person other than the petitioner, the Court will not grant a decree unless it is satisfied (i) that the petition was filed within one year of the date of the marriage; and (ii) that at the time of the marriage the petitioner was ignorant of the fact alleged; and (iii) that marital intercourse has not taken place with the consent of the petitioner since discovery by the petitioner of that fact. Your lawyer can guide you further on what route to take based on the above.

Publication of photography of a child

There is a Court case involving a child that has been trending in the media. While the details of the case are clearly stated, there is no information or photo of the child provided in the media. Even where the child is shown, the images are blurred and concealed. I was wondering whether this action is a requirement of the law or just the good will of the media in protecting the identity of the child. Please enlighten me.

FK, Geita

The media is not protecting the identity of the child out of good will but is doing so because it is a requirement of the law. According to section 33(1) of the Law of the Child Act [Cap. 13 R.E. 2019], a person shall not publish any information or photograph that may lead to the identification of a child in any matter before the Court except with the permission of the Court. Further, any person who publishes any information or photograph contrary to this section commits an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to a fine of not less than TZS 2M and not more than TZS 15M or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

In addition, according to section 7(3) of The Media Services Act, 2016 (Act No. 15 of 2016), a media house is required to ensure that it does not publish information that endangers the safety of a person or invades the privacy of an individual. Based on these laws, the media is obliged to protect the information and identity of the child.

Pleaded guilty to reduce a sentence

My son was involved in a crime. This was very stressful to our family since our son faced the potential of going to jail for a long time at the expense of his education. To avoid a long sentence, our lawyer advised my son to plead guilty so as to reduce the potential sentence. To our dismay, this was not the case. My son was given the maximum sentence. Why was his sentence not reduced? Kindly guide me.

MK, Mwanza

Parenting can be very tough where children get in trouble. Be aware that sentencing is guided by the provisions of the Law that create an offence. However, there are factors that Courts may consider in deciding the appropriate sentence as per the law. According to the Tanzania Sentencing Guidelines 2023, issued by the Chief Justice, in assessing the appropriate sentence, the Court has to take into account the plea of guilty for an accused person who has pleaded guilty.

The guideline requires that Judges and Magistrates must explicitly state that the plea of guilty has been taken into account and failure to do so may be taken as indication that the plea was not considered at all or was given insufficient weight and the appellate Court will definitely interfere to rectify this error. However, such sentence cannot be less than any statutory minimum sentence imposed by law. Where a reduction is granted, the Court should state the amount of a reduction that has been given from this sentence because of the plea of guilty. Further, where no reduction is given, cogent reasons must be shown. In case, the accused pleads guilty at the earliest stage, then more credit may be given than one who pleads guilty at a later stage.

In summary, there is a greater level of reduction in the sentence available the sooner the accused pleads guilty. Remember this is only a guideline, deviation is allowed where good reasons are shown by the Judge or Magistrate, and also it is not applicable to every offence. Your lawyer can guide you further.