Ethiopia Country Profile

Judicial System

Individual Corruption

In reality, there is no rule of law and no equal treatment of citizens before the courts. Court documents are regularly withheld from citizens by the government, thereby denying them of valuable information related to their cases. However, some documents are eventually released through the courts.

Business Corruption

The shortcomings of the judiciary are evident when considering the inefficiency of the system in resolving commercial disputes, and many judges lack understanding of commercial matters. According to law, disputes may be settled through international arbitration, but, according to the US Department of State 2008, there is no guarantee that a decision made by an international body will be accepted by Ethiopian authorities.

Political Corruption

The judiciary is generally unable to temper the powerful executive and, especially in high-profile cases, the courts show little political independence or concern for the defendants' procedural rights. Although the courts show some independence in less prominent cases, the judiciary often acts only after very long delays due primarily to the workload of the system. There is a severe lack of well-educated judges and other judicial personnel, and many political prisoners await trials for years. Corruption in the system is also reported as one of the constraints.

The independence of the judiciary is further hampered by the fact that the executive can appoint and dismiss court officials at will, while judges who voice opinions contrary to the executive have been dismissed or passed over for promotion.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2009:
- It requires 39 procedures and takes 690 days to enforce a commercial contract through the judiciary at a cost of 15% of the claim.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- Only 24% of the companies surveyed believe that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted.

UNECA: African Governance Report 2005:
- 60% reported that the judiciary is hardly or not at all independent of other branches of government.

- 31% of respondents in the household survey expect public prosecutors to demand bribes.

- 35% of respondents in the household survey expect judges to demand bribes.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2005:
- Citizens give legal system/judiciary a score of 3.7 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'very corrupt').