Ethiopia: Legal and Judicial Sector Assessment

Ethiopia ushered in a new era for the country's legal and judicial institutions with the adoption of a new constitution in 1995. The Constitution recognized the country's diverse ethnic and religious background through the creation of member states with laws and judicial systems that mirrored each region's specific ethnic and religious customs. Moreover, Ethiopia's current legal framework dates to the 1950s and 1960s when Emperor Haile Selassie adopted many facets of the French legal system. Subsequent changes came with the adoption of many commercial law features of the Anglophone common law system. This has created inconsistencies in the country's legal framework, which has been further complicated by weak institutional capacity to absorb these reforms. Resource constraints brought about by natural disaster and war have further impacted the government's overall effectiveness at the Federal, regional, and local level.