The Courts as a Restraint: The Experience of Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana

Abstract

Courts theoretically enhance the predictability of the business environment. They do so mainly by adjudicating commercial disputes with reference to the law. They may also attempt to stabilize the meaning of the law, by reconciling differences between statutes or interpreting ambiguous passages. Finally, in a very few cases, they may deem legislation that abrogates basic rights unconstitutional, although the power of courts to do so varies, as do constitutional protections of the individual and property.