In Ethiopia administrative grievances pose challenge to people’s access to justice

Ethiopia has a population of almost 90 million people and spans over a vast territory in Eastern Africa. Although being one of the poorest countries in the world Ethiopia aspires to reform its legal system. Its leaders embrace modern managerial approaches such as Balanced scorecards and Business process re-engineering. The country is also a good example in smart computerization of courts as well as other justice sector institutions.

There are many challenges, however. Adem Kasse, senior researcher at the institute of International Peace and Rule of Law of the Max Planck Foundation at the University of Heidlberg reviews some of them. Slow and unpredictable court procedures clearly violate the right to timely access to justice. Another is the lack of mechanisms to guarantee access to justice in administrative cases. Kasse points to the influence of the administrative agencies on the lives of many people in Ethiopia:

“Administrative bodies give directives and make decisions that affect millions of people every day.”

Many aspects of the work of the administrative agencies are governed not by the law but by institutional culture. These practices often fall outside the formal remedies that guarantee that the executive agencies abide to the rule of law. In Ethiopia the institution of the Ombudsman is getting established but it is still far away from being an effective remedy in all cases in which the citizens and organizations are in a conflict with administrative agencies. As Kasse points out there is no baseline study to assess the depth and impact of the problems with access to justice in these cases.

Read more about about access to justice in Ethiopia here

 

 

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