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East African Legal Resources

This resource guide is designed to acquaint you with resources available to the Georgetown Law community for finding legal information for East African countries, specifically Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. If you have additional questions or are looking for sources not listed on this guide, please contact the International Reference Desk in the Wolff Library.

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, having been colonized by the British and as members of the British commonwealth, share many features of their legal system in common with other Commonwealth countries.

Regional Resources:

Southern Africa Legal Information Institute: Includes legal information for a number of Southern and East African nations including Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. Commonly included resources available include recent statutes, legislation, and selected case law. Information varies by country.

East African Community: The regional intergovernmental organization of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi. The EAC is headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania. Important parts of the EAC include:

• East African Court of Justice: website includes links to the basic documents of the court and cases.
• East African Legislative Assembly: the independent, legislative arm of the East African Community. Their website includes links to current and past legislation.
• East African Community Statistics Portal: aggregates statistical information from the member states of the EAC.

News Sources:

• AllAfrica: This website aggregates news from sources across the African continent.
• BBC News Africa: News service from the British Broadcasting Corporation focused on Africa.
• The East African: owned by Nation Media Group, The East African covers news from the region including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.
  

Country Specific Resources

General Resources

Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in the Jurisdictions of the World, Thomas H. Reynolds & Arturo A. Flores: (GULC community only) This database is an excellent place to start and use in obtaining background information on the legal system of countries in East Africa and for finding general sources of law. The Guide includes links to relevent sources of law available electronically as well as the titles to specific print sources.

Kenya

*For citation purposes for Kenya, please refer to Bluebook T2.25

Constitution: published via the Ministry of Justice website

Statutes and Legislation:

• Laws of Kenya, Revised Edition, 2005
  • available online via Kenya Law - This website is maintained by the Kenyan National Council for Law Reporting, the official legal reporting entity within Kenya. Statutes can be found by search or by browing the Table of Contents.
• Parliament of the Republic of Kenya
  • Website includes a downloadable PDF version of the 2001 Constitution.
  • Website includes weekly hansards (verbatim records of the proceedings of Parliament) for the years 2010, 2009 and 2008].
• Legislation Kenya website: from Lexadin orrers links to additional legislation
• Tax Laws: available from the Kenya Revenue Authority website (example: Income Tax Act of 2009)
• Official Gazette: available online from Kenya Law (previous editions available from 2003 - present).
• Bill Tracker: available from Kenya Law website (NCSLR) for 2007 - present

Courts & Cases:

The Office of the Judiciary website offers an overview on the structure of the Kenyan court system.

The official reporter of Kenyan Cases is the Law Reports of Kenya. Reported cases may be found in the following places:

• Kenya Law database: many more recent cases are now available online in a fully saerchable database. All new cases are being posted on the website, and prior selected case law from 1980 - present are available. This website is maintained by the National Council for Law Reporting, the official body charged with reporting Kenyan case law.
• East African Law Reports: [KQC117.E27]: 1968-75 Includes cases from the High Court of Kenya; 2003-2008 includes cases from the High Court of Kenya and other East African courts.

Executive Materials:

The Government of Kenya has established its main website listing its major ministries. It includes links to the following offices and ministries:

• Office of the President ]website
• Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs: The primary government agency concerned with legal policy, constitutional affairs, and overseeing initiatives like the anti-corruption initative.
• Ministry of Education
• Ministry of Gender and Children's Affairs: oversees policy with regard to children's services, gender and social development.

Seleted Book Titles on Kenyan Legal Topics: for additional titles, search GULLiver, the Library Catalog.

Judicial Hints on Civil Procedure / Richard Kuloba (KSK3570.K85 2005)

News Sources:

• The Daily Nation: English language daily newspaper for Kenya (owned by Nation Media Group).
• The Standard: English language daily newspaper, The Standard is the oldest newspaper in Kenya and owned by the Standard Group.

Tanzania:

Statutes and Legislation:

• The Laws of Tanzania: Principle Legislation, Revised Edition 2003 [Print: KTT1.9 2003] not updated but current as of end of legislative session 2002.
  • Common Law as part of the law ot Tanzania: See the Judicature & Application Laws Act, Chapter 358 of The Laws of Tanzania
• Parliament of Tanzania (official website):
  • Parliamentary Online Information System (POLIS): provides an index to the proceedings and publications of the Parliament of Tanzania and includes the full text of Parliamentary motions; searchable online database that allows you to search the bill tracking system, session management, acts and documents, and members' profiles.
• SAFLII: provides "Numbered Acts" of Tanzania (selected coverage from 1962 - present)
• Tax Laws: available from the Tanzania Revenue Authority
• Official Gazette: Gazette of the United Republic of Tanzania

Courts and Cases:

Judiciary Overview: The judiciary in Tanzania consists of three primary bodies: the Court of Appeal, the High Courts (for Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar), and the Judicial Service Commission for Mainland Tanzania. Additionally, there are also Magistrates Courts and Primary Courts.

Resources for finding cases:

• Tanzania Law Reports, [print, KTT2.2.A2]:covering 1983-1997
• East Africa Law Reports, [print, KQC117.E27]: covering 2003-2008; includes cases from Court of Appeal Tanzania and the High Court of Tanzania.
• From SAFLII[41]:
  • Court of Appeal cases ( seleted cases from 1983 - present)
  • High Court cases (selected cases from 1998, 2006, 2007)

Executive Materials:

• Official Website of the Government of Tanzania: has a full list of the ministries of Tanzania ]with links to individual websites for most ministries.
  • Includes a special link to "Budget Speeches" from 2001 - present.
• Presidential Library: includes presidential speeches and other press releases.
• A separate government website also gives information on the government and ministries of Zanzibar.

Seleted Book Titles on Tanzanian Legal Topics: for additional titles, search GULLiver, the Library Catalog.

Sustaining and Sharing Economic Growth in Tanzania / Robert J. Utz (HC885.U89 2008 electronic)
Gender and Economic Growth in Tanzania: Unleashing the Power of Women / World Bank (HQ1230.5.T34 G464 2007 Electronic)
Civil Procedure in Tanzania: A Student Manual / B.D. Chipeta (KTT353.C48 2002)

News:

• The Daily News: daily English language newspaper in Tanzania, published by Daily News Media Group.
• The Citizen: daily English language newspaper in Tanzania, published by Mwananchi Communications Limited.

Uganda:

Important Resources:

• Uganda Online Law Library: database is available to Georgetown Law Community, but you must sign in with the library password.

Statutes and Legislation: The most recent consolidated edition of the statutes of Uganda was published in 2000. To find more recently enacted laws, you must search legislation.

• Constitution of Uganda (from the Parliament website)
  • Also available from the Uganda Online Law Library (GULC only)
• Laws of the Republic of Uganda, Revised Edition 2000 [print, KTW1.9 2001] - not updated, but current as of 2000 legislation
  • available on the Uganda Legal Institute website (but not searchable, and only available in alphabetical order by the title of the legislation). This database updates new laws frequently.
  • available on Uganda Online Law Library (GULC only)
    • to update what you find in the 2000 consolidated edition of the statutes of Uganda, use the "2001-2009 Regulations" under the "Statutory Instruments" tab from the Ugandan Law Library. This includes legislation passed subsequent to the compiled statutes.
• Parliament of Uganda (official website) includes the following:
  • Bills: searchable (2000 - present)
  • Hansards: official reports of the Parliament of Uganda (available from 1993 - present) available to search or to browse.
• Selected major legislation can also be downloaded through the Judiciary of Uganda's webpage.
• Official Gazette: The Uganda Gazette

Courts and Cases:

The Ugandan Judiciary webpage explains the structure of the court system in Uganda and gives information about each type of court in Uganda. The Supreme Court is the highest court in Uganda. Lower trial level courts include the High Court (original court of unlimited jurisdiction) , Magistrates' Court, Local Council Courts, and other local court structures through which appeals are heard at the High Court (twelve are located throughout Uganda). Intermediate appellate cases can be heard at the Court of Appeal. Finally, Uganda also has a special Constitutional Court.

To find published cases, the following resources can be consulted:

• East Africa Law Reports [print, KQC 117.E27]: covering 2003-2008; includes cases from the Supreme Court of Uganda (SCU), Court of Appeal Uganda (CAU), and the Constitutional Court of Uganda (CCU).
• Ugandan Legal Institute website database (under the SAFLII website) offers court reports for the following courts:
  • Supreme Court (1988 - present)
  • Commercial Court (2000 - present)
  • Constitutional Court (1997 - present)
  • Court of Appeal (1997-present)
  • High Court (1970 - present)
  • Center for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (2008-2009)
• Uganda Online Law Library: also includes access to a number of court decisions. It's database is organized into cases by subject area (ex: Divorce and Domestic Relations, Tax, Land Law) and includes a subsection of cases called "Interesting Judgments".

Executive Materials:

• President of Uganda Web Gateway
• Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development:
  • links to National Budget for years 2003 - present
• Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs

Selected Book Titles on Ugandan Legal Topics: for additional titles, search GULLiver, the Library Catalog.

The Uganda Income Tax Act of 1997: A Primer on Concepts and Structure / Kevin Holmes (KTW279.H65 2006)
A Compendium of Laws on Banking In Uganda / Alex Buri (KTW88.6.A28 2005)
A Compendium of Commercial Laws in Uganda / (KTW85.A28 2005)
Principles of Land Law in Uganda / John Tamukedde Mugambwa (KTW66.M84 2002)
Company Law in Uganda / David J. Bakibinga (KTW 97.9.B35 2001)
Law of Contract in Uganda / David J. Bakibinga (KTW 81.B35 2001)

News:

• The New Vision: English langauge newspaper, owned by the government.
• The Daily Monitor: daily English language newspaper, owned by Nation Media Group.

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