TANZANIA BILL [H.L.] (Hansard, 6 May 1969)

§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (LORD SHEPHERD)
My Lords, I beg to move that the Tanzania Bill be read a second time. The main purpose of the Bill is to enable existing United Kingdom laws to be given the same effect in relation to Tanzania as they have in relation to other countries in the Commonwealth, and had in relation to Tanganyika and in some cases Zanzibar before their merger. The House will recall that Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined to form a new State on April 26, 1964, known as the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, and became the United Republic of Tanzania on October 29, 1964. The Bill is thus similar in intent to Acts making consequential provisions in respect of United Kingdom law rendered necessary by the attainment of independence by a Commonwealth country or its subsequent adoption of a republican status.
The Bill is primarily of an enabling character and seeks to achieve only a limited number of objectives directly. The first and most important of these is the amendment of the British Nationality Act 1948 by substituting Tanzania for Tanganyika and Zanzibar in the list of Commonwealth countries in Section 1(3) of that Act. In addition, under the provisions of this Bill, British Protected Persons who obtained such status by virtue of their connection with Tanganyika before the country's independence, but who never became Tanganyika citizens, shall cease to be British Protected Persons on obtaining Tanzanian citizenship.
1160 The second direct objective the Bill seeks to achieve by the provisions of Clause 2 is somewhat removed from its main purpose. It concerns the Colonial and Other Territories (Divorce Jurisdiction) Acts which, broadly speaking, enabled colonial courts to grant divorces to expatriates and were a consequence of the colonial system of government. After Tanganyika became independent its courts continued under these Acts to grant divorces which are considered to be defective in United Kingdom law. The opportunity has therefore been taken to include a provision in the Tanzania Bill to validate such divorces. It is proposed to achieve this by preserving the jurisdiction of Tanganyika courts under these Acts from independence to May 1965, when they ceased to possess such jurisdiction under Tanzanian law, and to preserve such jurisdiction in relation to proceedings instituted during that period.
Since the status of a "British" ship is determined by the national status of its owner, a consequence of adding Tanzania to the list of Commonwealth countries in Section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1948, which would be achieved by Clause 1 of this Bill, is to make Tanzanian citizens British subjects for the purposes of British law and consequently ships owned by Tanzanian citizens British ships. The purpose of Clause 3 of the Bill, therefore, is to ensure that ships owned by Tanzanian citizens are not brought within the scope of United Kingdom legislation, and this would be accomplished by the exclusion of Tanzania from the scope of the Ships and Aircraft (Transfer Restriction) Act 1939, and the Whaling Industry (Regulation) Act 1934.
The enabling powers which would be conferred by Clauses 4 and 5 in the Bill are designed to empower Her Majesty in Council to apply in relation to Tanzania those United Kingdom enactments of Parliament, as may be considered appropriate, as they apply in relation to other Commonwealth countries. The application of such enactments, of course, will affect only the law of the United Kingdom and of those territories for which Her Majesty's Government have responsibility. It does not have effect as part of the law of Tanzania. It would be intended to exercise the power of application shortly after enactment in relation to a number of Statutes, and the Orders 1161 in Council would be laid before Parliament. My Lords, that is the general purpose of the Tanzania Bill, and I hope the House will give its unanimous approval to the Bill's Second Reading. I beg to move.

§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, for giving such a clear explanation of the Bill. It is a Bill that has been a very long time coming—I do not refer, of course, to to-day. It could have been presented to us ever since April, 1964; but I am not going to argue with the noble Lord on that account. I was grateful to him for explaining the date, May 17, 1965, which was mysterious to me, and I now understand that perfectly. Your Lordships will appreciate that this is purely a tidying-up operation, and I think Her Majesty's Government are to be congratulated on the way they have tidied things up.

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Marquess. He chided us about the time we have taken. I did at one moment think he was referring to to-day, but, if I may say so, looking at the clock, better later than never.