JILABA, CHARLES M.S. REG.NO. 55391/T.11.

LEGAL METHOD
ASSIGNMENT 4

Question One
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a
country, state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something,
or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by legislative bodies.

Law can be classified either by:

(i )Subject or

(ii Generally as: Common Law and Equity; Civil and Criminal Law; Public Law and
Private Law.

The classification of law by subject compartments is done by classifying law as

criminal law, contract law, administrative law, family law, company law, or agency law
to mention some.

Common law comprise of the body of rules which were developed by the common
law courts in England. These rules sometimes failed to achieve adequate justice in
particular cases. Equity, which was developed by the Court of Chancery in England
as a supplementary system, came to cure the mischiefs of the common law in those
particular cases.

Tanzanian legal system apply common law principles and doctrines of equity as a
single system of law and in case of a conflict, equity prevails.

A statute may generally be classified with reference to its duration, nature of

operation.These are national or local statutes enacted by legislative bodies in
Tanzania. Municipal laws are also divided into two groups namely, Public law and
Private law

Public law is the law which deals with the relationship between the state and
individuals, the distribution and exercise of public powers. Braches of public law are
Constitution law, Administrative law, Regulatory law (e.g. EWURA & TCRA laws), and
Criminal law (e.g. Penal Code). While, Private law is the law which governs
relationships between private individuals, for example, law of contract, tort law,
property law, succession (and trust) law, and etc. Private laws usually do not involve
the government, and are laws that allow one private entity to sue another private
entity in a civil lawsuit.
Substantive law is laws which governs or give rise to rights and obligations, e.g. the
Penal Code, Cap. 16 (RE: 2002).While, Procedural laws are just legal steps to be
followed in filing a lawsuit against another party, or before arresting or searching
another party.

International on the other hand are laws which govern intercourse or relations
between sovereign states, or individuals and sovereign states at international level,
e.g. law of high seas, diplomacy, and international crimes (e.g. genocide, crimes
against humanity, and etc). International law may be divided into two classes, thus;
Public international law governing relations between states, or a state and private
individuals. And Private international which govern relations between people across
nations, for example, marriage and divorce between a Tanzanian man and Kenyan
woman.

Jilaba, Charles M.S. Reg.No. 55391/T.11.LEGAL METHOD ASSIGNMENT 5

Question Two;

This question refers to one of the canons of statutory construction- the ejusdem
generis. Canons of statutory constructions are rules of construction for the
interpretation of statute law. Canons give common sense guidance to courts in
interpreting the meaning of statutes.

Rules of construction or statutory construction is the process of determining how the

provisions of the general law relate to a specific legal case, and distinguishes the rules of
statutory interpretation from other rules or aids for the interpretation of law in common
law jurisdictions. Rules of construction has also been defined as "the drawing in
inference by the act of reason, as to the intent of an instrument, from given
circumstances, upon principles deduced from men's general motives, conduct and
action.
The rule is explained in Halsbury's Laws of England thus:-"As a rule, where in a
statute there are general words following particular and specific words, the
general words are assumed to be confined to things of the same kind as those
specified. Ejusdem Generis is a Latin term which means "of the same kind," it is used to
interpret loosely written statutes. Where a law lists specific classes of persons or things
and then refers to them in general.

The general statements only apply to the same kind of persons or things specifically
listed. Example: if a law refers to automobiles, trucks, tractors, motorcycles and other
motor-powered vehicles, "vehicles" would not include airplanes, since the list was of
land-based transportation. The term Ejusdem Generis in other words means words of a
similar class.

The rule is that where particular words have a common characteristic (i.e. of a class) any
general words that follow should be construed as referring generally to that class; no
wider construction should be afforded.

There are several conditions that have been identified for the doctrine ejusdem generis
to apply, thus; the statute contains an enumeration by specific words, the members of
the enumeration suggest class, the class is not exhausted by the enumeration, a general
reference supplementing the enumeration, usually following it, and it is not clearly
manifested an intent that the general term be given a broader measuring than the
doctrine requires.

Classes can be defined in a vast number of ways, but the key to unlocking the true value
of the doctrine of ejusdem generis to ensure that the identified class has some objective
relationship to the aim of the statute. In other words, the basis for determining which
among various semantically correct definitions of the class should be given effect is
found in the purpose and subject of the statute as revealed in the legislative intent.

However, the rule of Ejusdem Generis must be applied with great caution, because, it
implies a departure from the natural meaning of words, in order to give them a meaning
on a supposed intention of the legislature. The rule must be controlled by the
fundamental rule that statutes must be construed so as to carry out the object sought to
be accomplished. The rule requires that the specific words are all of one genus, in which
case, the general words may be presumed to be restricted to that genus.