CEDAW/C/60/D/48/2013 there are three separate “intestate succession inheritanc e schemes” 1 in the State party: Islamic law, 2 customary law and the Indian Succession Act. 3 Customary law has been codified since 1963 and is today in force in 30 districts, making it the most commonly applied form of law in the State party. 2.2 Under customary inheritance law, as codified in schedule 2 to the Local Customary Law (Declaration) (No. 4) Order, inheritance rules are patrilineal (rule 1). Rule 5, which pertains to the right to administer the deceased’s estates, states that “the administrator of the deceased’s property is the eldest brother of the deceased, or his father, and if there is no brother or father, it can be any other male relative chosen with the help of the clan council”. Only if there are no male relatives can a sister become the administrator. Men are given the right to administer both property and funerals (rule 2). 2.3 With regard to the inheritance of widows, rule 27 states that “the widow has no share of the inheritance if the deceased left relatives of his clan; her share is to be cared for by her children, just as she cared for them”. Furthermore, according to rule 51, the deceased’s heir is to have the responsibility of taking care of the widow. 2.4 Customary law also prohibits women and daughters from inheriting clan land 4 and grants them limited inheritance rights, given that it establishes a ranking system according to which daughters are designated in the lowest rank. According to rule 21, there are three degrees of inheritance. According to rule 25, “the first degree is for the first son, the second degree is for the other sons and the third degree is for daughters”. In addition, rules 22 and 23 state that “the person in the first degree is the first heir and he gets a larger share of inheritance than any other heirs” and that “those in the second degree will get a bigger share than those in the third degree”. Furthermore, the rights of other female relatives of the deceased, such as his sisters or his mother, are limited and also allocated at the lowest rank. Pursuant to rule 44, if there are no children or grandchildren who have some inheritance rights, “the deceased’s brother and sister shall inherit”, but “the first brother inherits in the first degree, the other brother in the second degree and the sister in the third degree”. 5 Likewise, under rule 47, if the “deceased did not leave any brothers or sisters and if they did not have any children, then his father shall inherit”, thereby precluding the mother from inheriting. __________________ 1 2 3 4 5 15-05820 Wording used by the authors, who refer to Tamar Ezer, “Inheritance law in Tanzania: the impoverishment of widows and daughters”, Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, vol. 7 (2006), pp. 599-617, at p. 606. Islamic law governs the inheritance of Muslims, approximately 45 per cent of the population. The Indian Succession Act consists of codified English law from 1865, imp orted to the United Republic of Tanzania from India by the British. The authors indicate that the Act is rarely applied in the State party. It is mostly applied to Europeans, given that people of African origin are governed by customary rules. Under rule 20, women are allowed to inherit, except clan land. They can use clan land without selling it during their lifetime. If there are no men in that clan, a woman can inherit the land completely. Under rule 31, female children may not inherit clan land. Rule 30 gives an example with the division of 24 cattle and indicates that the first degree of inheritance would go to the eldest son, of 23 years of age, who would receive nine cattle. The second degree would be split between two younger sons, of 20 year s of age, who would receive five cattle, and another, of 14 years of age, who would receive four cattle. The third degree would be split between three daughters. The eldest daughter, of 25 years of age, despite being the eldest child, would receive three cattle and the two younger daughters, of 22 and 18 years of age, respectively, would receive two cattle and a bull/cow, respectively. 3/13