Sammendrag
Ethiopia is a diverse country, with a predominantly agrarian and religious population. It enjoys a long but equally contested history. Its traditional legal system revolved around issues of ascension to power, land use, and rituals of a good life. Modern Ethiopia, where a centralized administration was attained, only began at the turn of the twentieth century, and the codification of its laws during the 1950s and 1960s has been a major milestone in this period. In recognition of its diversity and hoping to stem recurring political conflicts in the country, federalism was introduced as a state structure in 1991. Accordingly, state power is divided between the federal and regional governments. The federal government is parliamentarian and has a bicameral parliament, with the upper house uniquely tasked with settling constitutional disputes. Religious and traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms are also given constitutional recognition. While the legal system principally features the civil law legal tradition, it has recently introduced a partial precedent system. Weak democratic institutions, undeveloped legal education, and a nascent legal profession render discussions on distinct legal methods in Ethiopia difficult. Despite these limitations and by focusing on federal laws and institutions, this chapter presents the salient features of the Ethiopian legal culture, following the model used in this book.
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