Sentencing in Tanzania

The universal purposes of sentencing are: deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, compensation and reparation. Sentencing comes after the conviction of an accused person, either after his own plea of guilty or after a full trial in a court of law. So, in law, a person is said to have been sentenced if he is charged under a law which creates a specific offence that can be judicially ascertained and which prescribe a specific punishment for the offence: See DPP v. Simon G. Marwa and another [1994] T.L.R 330 (CA) and where punishment for statutory offence is not provided, the trial Court should revert to common law and punish the convict with imprisonment or fine at its discretion, provided it does not give an inordinate sentence: See R. v. Emmanuel Timothy [1980] T.L.R 115. For offences under the Penal Code, see section 35 of the Penal Code, Cap. 16.