Legislative protection of property rights in Ethiopia: an overview

There are ambiguities, inconsistencies, gaps and outdated features in the legislative protection of some property rights in Ethiopia. Moreover, there is the bestowal of wide and undue discretion to various administrative authorities without judicial scrutiny. These problems clearly lead to discretionary and arbitrary administrative decisions and inconsistent court rulings thereby posing insecurity in the protection of property rights. Well-specified property rights stimulate private investment by encouraging property rights holders to invest on their property and they further facilitate the transfer of property to its most efficient user in the context of win-win equitable exchange. There is thus the need to enhance the clarity and coherence of Ethiopia’s property law regime that especially regulates land use rights, expropriation, intellectual property, share purchases, and the transfer of business premises

Comment: Ethiopia's Quest for an Appropriate Law: ‘An Answer’ from a Brother from Afar

There have been three waves of foreign influence in the ‘flesh’ and ‘soul’ of the Ethiopian legal regime ranging from the reception of liberal laws from Western modern legal systems to the socialist legality borrowed from the Marxist regimes of the pre-1990s. While the first epoch turned to the West for emulation, socialist legality went East. From the1990s onward, Ethiopia seems to have a hybrid (guramaile) of the two. Once again, Ethiopia’s post-2018 legal regime is rehearsing yet another chapter in its quest for the appropriate law. This comment reflects these pursuits and challenges, and it indicates the need for insight from an indigenous African wisdom of Sankofa

Comment: Ethiopia’s Ongoing Criminal Justice Reform: Modus Operandi, Methodology and Observations

This Comment relates to activities undertaken by the Criminal Justice Working Group (WG) under the auspices of the Legal and Justice Affairs Advisory Council (AC). It covers the period between 17 August 2018 and December 2020. The Comment highlights factors calling for reform of Ethiopia`s criminal justice, institutional arrangement for the ongoing legal and justice reform in Ethiopia and three principal tasks carried out by the WG. It also briefly forwards issues of concern and expression of gratitude