ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses tensions between customary law, state law, and international law as they relate to personal status laws and equality in the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania is a large and diverse country, and this diversity is reflected in some aspects of the legal system both on the Tanzanian mainland and in the semi-autonomous island state of Zanzibar, which has its own legal system. Mainland Tanzania has taken measures to unify some matters of personal status, most notably through the 1971 Law of Marriage Act (LMA); the LMA does not apply to Zanzibar. While marriage law is unified for religious and communal groups in Tanzania, inheritance and succession are not. The chapter observes that there are notable conflicts in legal practice, particularly between customary and statutory law in matters of inheritance, and the promise of equality of the law is not always realized. Although Tanzanian courts have ruled in favour of supporting legal protections for women and children in terms of inheritance and land rights, it is clear that taking matters to court may be expensive and difficult for many women and children throughout mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
