Adjournment of hearing in Tanzania.

ADJOURNMENT OF HEARING

Order XVII(CPC).

Under Rule 1 (1) the court has power to adjourn the hearing to a future date. It is a discretionary power which has to be exercised judiciously. There must be sufficient reasons for adjournment.

Once evidence is taken the hearing is supposed to continue from day to day until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined unless the court sees it necessary to adjourn the hearing till the next hearing.

Agreeing on Adjournment

See:

1. Shabani Mbaga & Another V. Karadha Co. Ltd. [1975] LRT 13 (HC)

2. A.S. Masikini V. George Mbugus [1976] LRT 62 (CA)

In the two cases advocates for both parties filed letters of consent for an adjournment.

Per Mustafa J., “A consent letter filed by the parties wanting to remove a case from the hearing list cannot automatically remove the case from the hearing list no more than an application for an adjournment or notice of an intention to apply for an adjournment of a case. An adjournment cannot be granted as of right but can only be granted for sufficient course. It therefore involves the exercise of discretion by the court and this must be exercised judiciously. Once the pleadings are closed in a case it is the duty of the court to dispose of the case with reasonable dispatch.”

The business of this court is subject to the vagaries of the business activities of advocates engaged by the litigants concerned, although a consent letter might be a factor which may be taken into consideration in an application for an adjournment. Such consent cannot almost certainly result in adjournment.

From the 2 cases above we have 3 propositions:-

1. No adjournment can be opted at the instance of the party to the proceedings except where the circumstances are beyond his control.

2. The engagement of an advocate in another court is not a ground for adjournment.

3. Illness of a lawyer cannot be a ground for an adjournment when it is found as a matter of fact that a party who represented by the advocate had enough time to engage another lawyer.

The period within which the adjournment should be granted depends on the decision of the Court.

Where the parties do not appear on the date of hearing after adjournment it is the discretion of the Court to further adjourn or terminate the case.

TYPES OF ADJOURMENT.

1. Those which are granted for specific date.

In this the court appoints a specified day on which to proceed with the  case.  

See Order XVII rule 2.

2. Adjournment sine die.

Adjournments sine die are those which do not provide for a specific  date. The matter is simply adjourned unless certain actions are taken.  

The party seeking hearing has got to apply to the court for fixing of the  date of hearing. 

Here there are two positions:-

1. Where adjournment lasts for one year

If the plaintiff does not apply for hearing date after one year it is the duty of the court to issue a notice to the plaintiff to show cause why should not the suit be struck out.

A general adjournment should not last for more than a year. If the plaintiff is serious about his case he will not stay for more than one.

2. In any other case where there has been an adjournment and the case 

has stayed pending for a period of three years the court has the duty to strike it off without giving the plaintiff any notice.

Refer Rule 5 0.XVII. (Striking out for lack of prosecution).

When a suit is struck out under this rule the plaintiff may bring a fresh 

suit subject to the Law of Limitation.