Hawassa University Journal of Law

The Use of Force against Individuals in War under International Law: A Social Ontological Approach, by Ka Lok Yip, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2022, 336 PP, ISBN: 9780198871699

Fikire Tinsae Birhane — 2024-08-23

Book Review

Intimate Partner Violence Survivors and the Criminal Justice System: A Case Study of Addis Ababa City Administration

Helen Abelle Melesse — 2024-08-23

The Ethiopian criminal justice system fails to recognize intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) survivors as active participants in their cases, treating these crimes solely as offenses against society and neglecting survivors’ rights and agency. This oversight and the lack of adequate guidelines for handling IPVAW cases leave actors unsure of how best to support survivors. This article aims to explore the rights and treatments of IPVAW survivors throughout their interaction with the criminal justice system, focusing on their roles, struggles, needs, and concerns. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study utilizes semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, courtroom observations, and case analysis. Data was gathered from purposively selected survivors and actors within selected sub-cities of Addis Ababa. The findings reveal that the lack of adequate legal provisions, which require regular updates, leaves many survivors uninformed about their cases and the legal process. Additionally, survivors’ input is rarely sought during adjudication or sentencing, further marginalizing their agency within the system. Furthermore, interactions with actors and the courtroom environment, among other factors, significantly shape survivors’ experiences. Based on these findings, this article proposes comprehensive recommendations to ensure survivors’ meaningful participation and improvement of their treatment throughout the criminal justice process.

Ethiopia and Its FDI: Towards Domesticating BITs for Sustainable Development

Woldetinsae Fentie Assegu — 2024-08-23

The main objective of this article is to explore rooms for sustainable development friendly domestication of BITs in Ethiopia. It employed a doctrinal research approach and examined a range of policy documents, legal frameworks, interview data and scholarly literature. Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are used as a tool for the promotion and attraction of FDI. However, the implementation of BITs without tailoring to the Ethiopian context would contravene the constitution and many international conventions to which Ethiopia is a party. Domesticating the BITs in support of Ethiopia’s sustainable development agenda is desirable amid there is limited understanding of how the BITs could be domesticated and implemented in line with sustainable development within the Ethiopian context. Though Ethiopia's BITs lack alignment with the sustainable development agenda, customizing for alignment is required. As BITs require domestication for their domestic implementation, such a process opens a room for recalibrating rights and obligations in line with the sustainable development agenda. Both national and international policies for sustainable development agenda together with continued calls for reform to the BITs regime nurture customized domestications. In addition, BITs ratification in Ethiopia should go beyond the declaration of ratification and reproduce treaty provisions together with the interpretation of vague sustainable development impeding provisions.

The Rights of Deaf Persons Access to Civil Justice in Ethiopia: Examining the Laws and Practices

Muluken Kassahun Amid — 2024-08-23

It is estimated that up to 5 million people in Ethiopia suffer from hearing difficulties. Some have dual or multiple disabilities, such as persons with hearing and visual impairments. Persons with hearing impairments confront communication challenges in court while struggling to defend their rights. Providing a sign language interpreter or other forms of accommodation lessens their communication barrier in court. This article investigates how the Ethiopian civil justice delivery system accommodates the rights and needs of deaf persons to ensure their right to access justice effectively. Based on a sociolegal research assessment of the law and practice in Federal and Oromia regional courts, it contends that the present legal framework of Ethiopia does not adequately provide accommodations for deaf people to access civil justice, effectively. Practically, courts lack a permanently functioning sign language interpreter and do not provide a conducive court environment to meet the special needs of deaf individuals. With this, it recommends amending existing laws, adopting sign language as a working language of the courts and providing essential facilities in courts to enable deaf people to access civil justice.

Contractual or Judgmental Approach: Unearthing the Legal Nature, Effect and Execution of Compromise Agreement under Ethiopian Law

Eyader Teshome Alemayehu — 2024-08-23

As a matter of general principle, voluntary and pacific settlement of civil matters (and arguably some criminal matters) through compromise agreement between parties to an actual or potential legal dispute is commendable on various beneficial grounds. Compromise is a voluntary resolution of legal disputes to avoid litigation or put an end to one already commenced. Yet, an effective accomplishment of its purpose requires establishing an efficient legal framework that regulates every aspect of legal issues it involves. Accordingly, this article investigates the status, requirements, parties, subject matter, time, execution and legal effect of compromise under Ethiopian law. Based on a doctrinal legal research approach, it argues that the legal status, clarity and effect of compromise are vague in the Ethiopian legal framework. The legal regime is ambiguous about whether compromise is a contract or consent decree in addition to the vagueness of its substantive and procedural requirements for an execution. The recently introduced Arbitration and Conciliation Working Procedure Proclamation [No.1237/2021] also overlooks the subject of compromise. Hence, this article recommends an overall revision of compromise in the Ethiopian legal system. This includes clearly defining its legal status, scope that identifies subject matters not amenable to it, and establishing conditions such as the requirement for a written form to enter into it and court approval for its execution.

Scope of Rights of Creditor Banks over Mortgaged Property in Ethiopia

Gemmeda Amelo Gurero — 2024-08-23

This article examines the Ethiopian mortgage system focusing on the scope of rights of creditor banks over the mortgaged property including its validity requirements. It employed a doctrinal research method, including the analysis of FSC cassation cases, relevant laws, and literature review. The article highlights that laws and cassation court practices give better rights and protections to banks in the Ethiopian mortgage system. Concerning the validity requirement, banks are exempted from the authentication. Banks also have the right to determine which property shall be sold first when more than one property is mortgaged. Besides, they are entitled to payments first when several creditors claim the same property and sell practically mortgaged property that belongs to the debtor or third-party in the same manner even if the third-party mortgagor is assimilated to a guarantor. Moreover, practically, banks prohibited the sale of mortgaged property by taking over its title deed and securing its injunction. The article argues that the law should empower banks to sell the mortgaged property even when it is transferred to third-party or belongs to third-party mortgagor in the same manner as they would sell properties directly mortgaged by the debtor. Accordingly, it recommends equitable procedural safeguards to all involved parties while addressing liabilities that arise from foreclosure procedures.

A Critical Analysis of the Regulation of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Engagement in Income-Generating Activities under Ethiopian Laws

Abdata Abebe Sefara — 2024-08-23

The Civil Society Organizations Proclamation [No. 1113/2019] (CS Proclamation) accompanied by the Directive enacted by the Authority for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) to implement the Proclamation, and Directive to Determine the Conditions under which CSOs are Engaged in Income-Generating Activities [Directive No. 937/2022] (IGA Directive), allows CSOs to conduct business as per relevant business licensing and registration requirements. Under the CS Proclamation, interested CSOs can operate businesses through different modes, notably by starting new businesses (companies), owning shares in existing businesses, soliciting public contributions, or being a sole proprietorship. IGA Directive has also provided the modes of the CSO's engagement in business activities. However, the provisions of the CS Proclamation and IGA Directive governing the modes of engagement of CSOs in income-generating activities suffer from ambiguities and discrepancies. It is unclear from these provisions whether CSOs are permitted to establish only company forms or all types of business organizations recognized by the Revised Commercial Code (RCC) to operate businesses. Besides, the laws do not specify the details of how a CSO can pursue a business as a sole proprietorship. Thus, this article critically examines these ambiguities and discrepancies in governing CSOs’ engagement in income-generating activities and proposes their possible amendments.

Efficiency of Ethiopian Telecom Consumers Protection Law: Lessons from Safaricom's Previous Experiences in Kenya

Samuel Lijagegnehu Biru — 2024-08-23

This article assesses the efficiency of Ethiopia's telecom consumer protection laws in protecting consumers from potential infringements, particularly through the previous experiences of Safaricom’s telecom consumer rights violations in Kenya. It employs a comparative research approach, analyzing the consumer rights infringements in Kenya and assessing how they would be treated under Ethiopia's current legal framework. The central question of this article is whether Ethiopian law can effectively safeguard consumers if similar infringements occur in Ethiopia. It draws cases against Safaricom’s consumer rights violations, including the rights to privacy of service users, suspension of telecom services without sufficient cause and provision of poor-quality services with high tariff rates and limited networks in Kenya. The Ethiopian telecom consumer protection law has the deficiency to redress the recurrence of similar violations in Ethiopia, mainly the absence of legal regimes for high tariffs, governing M-Pesa transactions and the mandate to provide awareness for consumers by the Ethiopian Communication Authority (ECA). Besides, the absence of clear and sufficient guidelines to determine and control service providers' conduct, in addition to the weak practice of an organized participation of the consumer associations shows the legal framework's poor capacity to defend the possible rights violations. Therefore, this article suggests legislative interventions to address the identified gaps, mainly regulating service tariffs, governing M-Pesa transactions, and empowering ECA and consumers to organize and participate in their rights protections.