Corruption in Tanzania: The Case for Circumstantial Evidence By ...

Chapter 1

Corruption and Circumstantial Evidence

1.1. Background to the Study

The book deals primarily with the law of evidence in the context of circumstantial evidence as it applies to anticorruption efforts in Tanzania. Corruption is recognised throughout the world as a detrimental force that thwarts democracy and represses individuals. Corruption is to be found everywhere; countries only differ in their respective levels of commitment to reduce its viral and deleterious effects. Corruption is a more perverse and devastating problem in countries that are in the process of democratisation and development. The prevalence of international conventions and regional protocols against corruption is a clear testimony that corruption concerns all communities in the global village.

The common-law tradition of the law of evidence since medieval times depended on direct evidence that helps to establish essential elements of crime because the ‘eyewitness paradigm’ was seen as a more reliable form of evidence than circumstantial evidence.