Government Immunity Against Litigation for Environmental Pollution in Tanzania

This paper explores the issue of government immunity in environmental matters. It argues that, while government agencies or institutions may play a role in environmental pollution, holding them accountable is challenging due to the government immunity doctrine. In this paper, we use Tanzania as an example to establish the relevance of the immunity doctrine. We employed a desk-based research approach, involving a review of legislation and literature. The results suggest that there are formal procedures in place to sue the government. We use marine pollution as a form of environmental pollution and explore what causes the lack of judicial interference in holding the government accountable. In these procedures the attorney general is crucial. The attorney general uses their power to actually block or hinder government liability. This shows that although the government immunity does not exist on paper, in reality it actually plays a significant role. We observe some informal mechanisms that make it hard to sue the government. This makes it likely that the norms to avoid pollution are neglected in society, as the government does not act as an example that prevents such pollution.