Journal of Linguistics and Language in Education Vol. 11, Number 1 (2017) The Counsel-Witness Battle of Identities on Cross-Examination at the High Court of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam Antoni Keya Abstract This paper examines courtroom interactions between members of the juridical field and the laity who come in as witnesses, to identify the identity struggles and how these struggles are likely to affect adjudication. It analyses this struggle through examination of ethos. The results of identity struggles reveal counsel enjoying identity access and discourse resources to denounce the witness who has only the response move to operate from. The witness only flouts authoritative discourse not as much to denounce counsel’s ethos, but to p rotect himself. The study further shows that this struggle goes against the view of the law-society relationship that looks at the judiciary is a trustee of the rule of law, administering the law for the benefit of the entire community. Cross-examination has failed to become a process that is substantively just and humane. The layperson remains a stranger in the courtroom. Key words: ethos, counsel, witness, social identity approach, identity struggle Introduction If anyone asked a judiciary personnel, as I did, what the Tanzanian judiciary was struggling with, they would mostly hear that the judiciary is not being independent (it is overwhelmed by the state), there is a backlog of cases, and that the predominance of written English is pain to most Tanzanians participating in judicial processes. The personnel would also point out that the filing system is poorly managed which causes some of the judiciary personnel to get involved in corruption issues, there are poor working environment, and that it was very hard to keep evidence. Some of us laypersons will add that on top of everything else the judiciary continues to be strangely formal. No one seems to worry about the seemingly procedural issues of interrogation of witnesses. This paper examines courtroom interactions between members of the juridical field and the laity who come in as witnesses, to identify the identity struggles in the courtroom drama of cross-examination. Specifically, it aims to find ways in which participants claim their identity and  Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35040, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, E-mail:amkeya@yahoo.com