Summary procedure notes in Tanzania (+pdf)

Here you will find easy-to-digest notes on a Summary procedure in Tanzania.

These notes cover everything you need to know about summary procedures or summary suits in Tanzania.

Let’s get started

What is the summary Procedure?

The summary procedure is a procedure in civil suits that allows the court to entertain proceedings in a summary nature whereby the defendant doesn’t have an automatic right to defend himself.

In simpler terms, a summary procedure is a way for courts to handle certain types of civil cases quickly and without a full trial.

This means the court can make a decision based on the facts and legal arguments without going through all the usual steps of a trial.

In this process, the defendant, or the person being sued, doesn’t always get to automatically defend themselves like they would in a regular trial.

Instead, the court might decide the case based on the information provided by the plaintiff, or the person who filed the lawsuit, without giving the defendant a chance to fully present their side of the story.

The suit which is instituted through a summary procedure is called a summary suit and the judgment obtained through a summary procedure/suit is called a summary judgment.

This is a procedure that goes contrary to the principle that “no party should be condemned unheard” It is a procedure that is shorter than a normal trial as the suit doesn’t go through all processes of trial.

Law govern summary suit in Tanzania

The law that governs summary procedure in Tanzania is the Civil Procedure Code [CAP 33 R.E 2019] under Order 35 {hereinafter referred to as C.P.C}

The rationale for summary suit

The primary aim of a summary suit is to prevent unreasonable obstruction by a defendant who has no defense.

In the case of ZALLA V. RALLI BROTHERS LTD (1969) E. A 691 it was stated that the purpose of a summary suit is to enable the plaintiff with a liquidated claim to obtain a quick and summary judgment without being unnecessarily kept from what is due to him by the delaying tactics of the defendant.

Expounding on the objectives of summary suits, High Court in the case of
CRDB Bank Limited vs John Kagimbo Lwambagaza [2002] TLR 117, had the following to say;

‘The purpose of Order XXXV: Summary Procedure “is to enable Plaintiff to obtain Judgment expeditiously where Defendant has in effect no substantial defense to the suit and prevent Defendant from employing delaying tactics and, in the process, postpone the day of reckoning.

Limitation of summary procedure

The summary procedure is only confined and restricted to suits of negotiable instruments such as a recovery of electricity bills, bills of exchange, cheques, and promissory notes per order 35 r 1 of C.P.C.

Procedures for instituting a summary suit

The following are the procedures for instituting a summary suit.