Victim Compensation and Aspects of Law and Justice in Tanzania

Under the common law legal system, the tradition in criminal justice has been to focus on the accused and to ensure that he or she gets punished. The victim of the crime is ignored and at most given the "opportunity" to assist the prosecution's case as a witness for the Crown or the Republic. New thinking is emerging that calls for changing the mind-set and looking at the plight of the many victims of crime. This is the message behind this article, which takes the United Republic of Tanzania as a case study. This new thinking is giving hope to the victims of crime who have been suffering for ages. Therefore, it is time for the states to adopt this challenge and provide protection and compensation to victims of crime within their specific jurisdictions.