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RULE OF LAW VERSUS RULE BY LAW

A GOOD MESSAGE FOR LAWYERS

ክብርት ፕሬዝደንቷ በካይሮ

                                                 

የፌዴራል ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዝደንት ክብርት ወ/ሮ መዓዛ አሸናፊ በግብጽ ካይሮ በሚደረገው 3ተኛው የአፍሪካ የጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤቶች እና የህገመንግስት ፍርድ ቤቶች ዓመታዊ ኮንፍረንስ ላይ ተሳትፈዋል፡፡ ንግግርም አድርገዋል፡፡

ኮንፈረንሱ በግብጽ የህገመንግስት ፍርድ ቤት በየዓመቱ የሚዘጋጅና የአፍሪካ ሃገራት ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዝደንቶች የሚሳተፉበት እንደሆነም የተገኘው መረጃ ይጠቁማል፡፡ በአፍሪካ በቅርቡ የተሾሙትን ክብርት ወ/ሮ መዓዛ አሸናፊን ጨምሮ 6 ሴት የጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዝደንቶች እንዳሉ መረጃው ያመለክታል፡፡ (SOURCE - https://twitter.com/ashenafi_mea…/status/1097384708810383360

Force Majeure and Hardship under UNCISG and Ethiopian law (By our professional guest author Yidnekachew Tadele - LL.B., LL.M (Federalism Studies) and LL.M Candidate (International Investment Law) Honourable yidnekachew is currently working as a judge at Addis Ababa City Appelate Court.

Introduction

The article that is entitled Force Majeure and Hardship under UNCISG and Ethiopian law discusses only about UNCISG and Ethiopian law. The paper doesn’t discuss about other UN convection or other countries’ laws.

The article has five parts. The first part discuss about the general concept of force majeure and hardships. The second part discusses about the similarity and differences of force majeure and hardship.  The Third one discusses about force majeure and hardship under UNCISG. The fourth part discusses about force majeure and hardship under Ethiopian law. Under the fifth and the last part the article the writer concludes the paper and gives some recommendations. 

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      Force Majeure and Hardship under UNCISG and Ethiopian Contract Law (By our professional guest author Yidnekachew Tadele - LL.B., LL.M (Federalism Studies) and LL.M Candidate (International Investment Law)

የወንጀለኛ መቅጫ ሥነ-ሥርዓት ህግ ቁጥር 145 ተፈጻሚ መሆን ያለበት በምን ሁኔታ ነዉ ? ( በበረከት ሰይፉ )

                             1. መግቢያ

        በመደበኛዉ[1] የወንጀል ሙግት ሂደት ዓቃቤ ህግ ረቺ ለመሆን የሚያበቃዉ የአስረጂነት መመዘኛ (standard of proof) ከምክንታዊ ጥርጣሬ በላይ (beyond reasonable doubt) ወይም ግልጽና አሳማኝ (clear and convincing) ወይስ ከተጠቀሱት ዉጪ የሚለዉ በፌዴራል ፍርድ ቤቶች[2] ለዓመታት ወጥ አቋም ያልተያዘበት ይልቁንም ጉራማይሌ መሆኑን በተለያዩ መዛግብት ከተሰጡና እየተሰጡ ካሉ ትዕዛዛት መገንዘብ ይቻላል፡፡

ተግባራዊ መሆን ያለበት የአስረጂነት መመዘኛ (standard of proof) የትኛዉ ነዉ ? ካሉት ከአማራጮቹ መካከል አንደኛዉን በሥራ ላይ ለማዋል የሚያስችለን ህግ ወይም ፍልስፍና ምንድን ነዉ ? የሚለዉ የዚህ ጽሁፍ መሰረታዊ ዓላማ አይደለም፡፡ የትኛዉንም አማራጭ ብንከተል ግን የማስረዳት ሸክም ያለበት ወገን ያቀረበዉ ማስረጃ ያስረዳል ተብሎ የቀረበበትን ፍሬ ነገር መኖር ወይም አለመኖር[3] አስመልክቶ የማይሆን ከሚባል ይልቅ ይሆናል በሚባል ደረጃ (more likely than not) የማስረዳት ግዴታዉን መወጣት አለበት፡፡ ይህን ለማድረግ ዓቃቤ ህግ አሉኝ የሚላቸዉን የሰነድ ማስረጃዎች የማቅረብ፤ ምስክሮችም እንዳሉ ማሰማት ግድ[4] ይሆናል፡፡

የወንጀል ክስ የቀረበበት ሰዉ ፍርድ ቤት ከቀረበ በኋላ ክሱ ደርሶት፤ መቃወሚያ እንዳለ እልባት ተሰጥቶ ተከሳሹ የእምነት ክህደት ቃሉን ሲጠየቅ ክዶ ከተከራከረ ዓቃቤ ህግ ክሱን ይከፍታል፡፡[5] በክሱ የማስረጃ ዝርዝር ላይ ምስክሮችን የተጠቀሱ እንደሆነ ይጠራሉ፡፡ ዓቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮቹን እንዲያቀርብ ታዞ በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ሳያገኛቸዉ ሲቀር በወ/መ/ሥ/ሥ/ህ/ቁ 30 (1) መሰረት ለፖሊስ የሰጡት ቃል በተጠቃሹ ህግ ቁጥር 145 መሰረት ፍርድ ቤት በማስረጃነት ይያያዝልን (ይታይልን) የሚል አቤቱታ ማቅረብ (በሁሉም ዓቃብያነ ህጎች ባይሆንም) የተለመደ ነዉ፡፡ ለዚህ ዓይነቱ አቤቱታ በአብዛኛዉ የሚጠቀሰዉ ምክንያት ምስክሩ/ሮቹ አድራሻ ስለሌላቸዉ ሊገኙ አልቻሉም ወይም ከሃገር ወጥተዋል የሚሉ ናቸዉ፡፡

በዚህ መልኩ የሚቀርብን አቤቱታ አብዛኛዉ ችሎቶች በመቀበል ምስክሩ/ሮቹ ለፖሊስ የሰጡትን ቃል የዓቃቤ ህግ ማስረጃ አካል አድርገዉ የሚወስዱ ሲሆን ጥቂት ችሎቶች (ዳኞች) ደግሞ በዚህ መልኩ የሚቀርብ አቤቱታን ዉድቅ ሲያደርጉ ይስተዋል፡፡ የጉዳዩ አወዛጋቢነት በዳኞችና ዓቃብያነ ህጎች መካከል መካከል ሳይገደብ በወንጀል ፍትህ አስተዳደር ዘርፉ ተዋናይ የሆኑ ጠበቆችን (ተከላካይ ጠበቆችን ጨምሮ)፣ የህግ መምህራንን … ወ.ዘ.ተ የሚያከራክር ሆኗል፡፡

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የወ/መ/ስ/ስ/ሕ/ቁ 145 ዓላማውና  አተገባበሩ ላይ (በተጋባዥ ባለሙያ)

Towards a Comprehensive Prosecution Service in Ethiopia: Noting the New Developments by Leake Mekonen Tesfay

Abstract  Although Ethiopia’s public prosecution is a recent development, continuous changes have been made since the first public prosecution department was established. While the prosecution service has been wavering between centralized prosecution department at times and specialized prosecution institutions in another, a new comprehensive prosecution department – the Federal Attorney General has been recently established in the federal government taking almost all prosecution powers to it. This article briefly reviews the historical development of the prosecution department, the ups and downs between centralized and specialized prosecution institutions and the new developments related to the establishment of the Federal Attorney General as a comprehensive prosecution institution. Key Words Public Prosecution, Specialized Prosecution Institutions, Centralized Prosecution, Ethiopia

A point about some traffic police corruption

            Our traffic police are not clean handed. This doesn’t mean all traffic police are corrupt. There are many ethical and professional and country-loving traffic police as opposed to the corrupt ones. I have been traveling from Addis to the South region and back to Addis many times. It is a very common practice for the drivers to give Birr 50 or 100 to the traffic police to have a ‘safe’ pass besides overloading passengers,missing dispatch paper(‘mewicha’),driving above the speed limit, driving a technically deficient car, overpricing the transportation fee above the tariff,etc. These faults of the driver are ignored as seen in return to the Birr 50 or 100 bribe.The drivers have told me that the traffic police do collect the money from each public transport car. What an ashaming practice! If our law enforcement organs are corrupt, then who can enforce the law? Will these corrupt ones will enforce it? No. A serious measure has to be taken on this problem. Let you share us your opinions on what measure should be taken to get rid of this problem.

የግብር ከፋዮች የሽያጭ መመዝገቢያ መሳሪያ በመጠቀም ደረሰኝ የመቁረጥ ግዴታ፡ ኣጭር ዳሰሳ ( ለኣከ መኮነን ተስፋይ -የፌዴራል የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት ዳኛ)

1.   መግቢያ                  

          መንግስታት ስራቸውን ለማከናወን የሚያስፈልጋቸውን ገንዘብ ለማመንጨት ግብር ይጥላሉ፣ ይሰበስባሉ፡፡ ግብር የሚጣለውም ህግ የማውጣት ስልጣን ባለው የመንግስት ኣካል በተደነገገ ህግ መሰረት ነው፡፡ መንግስታት ግብር በሚጥሉበትና በሚሰበስቡበት ጊዜ ታድያ በመንግስትና በግብር ከፋዩ ህብረተሰብ መካከል ግጭት/ኣለመስማማት እንዳይከሰት በኣንድ በኩል የግብር ሰብሳቢው የመንግስት ኣካል ስልጣንና ተግባራት እንዲሁም ግዴታዎች ምንድን ናቸው? በሌላም በኩል የግብር ከፋዮች መብቶችና ግዴታዎችስ ምንድን ናቸው? የሚለው ተለይቶ መታወቁ ጠቃሚ ነው፡፡      

የፍትሐብሔር የችሎት ሂደት በቅደም ተከተል

የፌዴራል ፍ/ቤቶች ችሎቶች አንድን የፍትሐብሔር ቀጥታ ክስ ሲመለከቱ የሥነ ሥርዓት ሕጉን በመንተራስ የሚተገብሯቸው ዋና ዋና ተግባራት 1.ፍ/ቤቱ የቀረበለትን ጉዳይ ለመዳኘት ሥልጣን ያለው መሆኑን መመርመር፣ 2.ጉዳዩ የክስ ምክንያት ያለው መሆኑን መመርመር፣ 3.መዝገቡን መርምሮ ተከሣሽ መልስ ሊያቀረብ የሚገባ መሆንና አለመሆኑን መመርመር ፣ 4.የክስ መቃወሚያ ካለ መስማት፣ 5.በመቃወሚያ ላይ ብይን መስጠት፣ 6.በፍሬ ጉዳይ ላይ ክስ መስማት፣ 7.ምስክር መስማት፣ 8.ውሣኔ/ ፍርድ መስጠት፣ ከላይ የተጠቀሱት ሂደቶች በቀላል፣ መካከለኛና ውስብስብ የፍትሐብሔር ጉዳዮች የሚተገበሩ ሊሆኑ ይችላሉ፡፡ / ምንጭ ፡-ለውይይት የቀረበ የዳኝነት አገልግሎት አሰጣጥ ስታንዳርድ 2ዐዐ7/

Forgery is a real threat to our Justice System

Nowadays,documents submitted to employers as evidence of education and work experience,driving licenses,ID cards,certificates of ownership,business licenses,etc are prepared in a forged way.Such forged documents are often submitted to courts and administrative tribunals as evidence resulting in miscarriage of justice.So,all of us have to fight against this threat to our justice system.The Federal Police forensic directorate documents investigation department is making a great contribution in fighting forgery. Each and every one of us should also contribute our share in fighting forgery.Otherwise,injustice will triumph over justice.What is your opinion on the issue?

ከመቀጠር ከሚገኝ ገቢ ግብር ስሌት (tax rate of income gained from employment )

በሐምሌ/2008 እንዳዲስ በወጣው በአዋጅ ቁጥር 979/2008 መሰረት ከመቀጠር ከሚገኝ ገቢ ግብር ስሌት የሚሰላው እንደሚከተለው ነው፡፡ (As per income tax proclamation no 979/2016,the tax rate for income gained from employment looks like this.)

Unsolicited Mobile Text Messages

        Day in and day out,a lot of text messages pop into our mobile phones. These are not from family or friends. Some of the text messages are sent from the telecom operator ,Ethiotelecom;Others are sent from government offices to convey a certain message and others are sent from organizations that run ads.,etc...Whoever is the sender,there is no a request given by us to get these messages. We are rarely asked whether or not we are interested to receive such messages.Nor anyone of us has given permission to the senders to send messages to our phones. In my opinion,our phones are ours;your phone is yours.So sending unsolicited text messages may amount to infringement of our privacy rights something like somebody entering our house without permission.The problem related to this issue is that there is no a clear law which directly regulates such privacy issues. I think it needs regulation.What is your opinion on the issue?

Let all police respect Human Rights in the New Year ('' ስትገረፍ፤ታወራዋለህ '' ቢቀር)...

It is a common complaint in Ethiopia that some police officers violate human rights of suspects and/or sentenced persons. Our FDRE constitution has clear provisions concerning the human rights of suspects and even of convicted and sentenced persons.For example,use of force to get evidence is prohibited because torture is a crime against humanity. Even evidence found by use of force has no acceptance.Ethiopia has accepted all basic international human rights treaties and incorporated them to be part and parcel of the constitution. Even though the law is clear,some police members violate it and violate human rights.Some do so out of lack of awareness;some do this out of lack of the proper criminal investigation skills and some do so just to abuse their power.Law enforcement should be done respecting constitutionally guaranteed human rights and following the legal procedures in the criminal procedure code.Otherwise,it is unconstitutional.It must be corrected in the new year!What is your opinion on the issue?

Probono Service of some Ethiopian Federal Lawyers

As it is well known,lawyering is not a solid for profit business.It is rather a profession by which the lawyer gives legal advice representing clients at courts of law or administrative tribunals and in return,gets remuneration or payment for the services delivered.Even though payment of money is involved in the contract of service,it doesn't mean a lawyer needs payment in every case.Since lawyering is a profession one pursues to stand for justice,lawyers must give free legal service to those who can't afford to pay.Actually,it is being done in Ethiopia too.In Ethiopia,every federal lawyer must give 50 hours of free service to those who can't pay.But the problem is not on the time or hours spent but the problem of not giving equal weight to paid and free services.If it is free service,some lawyers prepare poor statements of claim and/or defense,miss court sessions and and even if they appear,they come unprepared.This is unethical. It needs correction.What is your opinion on the issue? P

Opinion Versus Defamation

If you say that you think somebody is a thief,it is your opinion but if you say you saw somebody steal,you are alleging a fact. If what you thought is proven wrong,it is not a crime because you have freedom of thought. But if what you alleged as a fact is proven false,then this constitutes the crime known as defamation. Have a good day!!!

Concept of terrorism

      Terrorism is related with trying to get a certain aim succeed by means of intimidation and force,by means of making people fear a certain actual or potential threat. The basic problem of terrorism is that it is often indiscriminate about targets. For example,if a bomb exploded in a public place,those who may die or be damaged are most of the time civilians,women,and children etc...who have no thing to do with politics. So,the effect of terrorism is harmful. That is why countries need anti-terrorism law. That is why we also have this law. So,the need for anti-terrorism law is vivid.

Election

What do you think about the Independence of the Judiciary in Ethiopia?

 
       As it is well-known the principles of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary are key to ensure a real democracy and rule of law. To that end,there must be clear legal instruments and institutions that ensure the independence of the judiciary. The 1995 Constitution unequivocally declares the independence of the Ethiopian judicial branch(See article 78 of the FDRE constitution). .In and of itself ,however,the declaration of independence does not equate to the creation of independence if institutions and systems are unable or unwilling to shoulder the burdens and share the power in a practical and well-established procedure. 

     The Judiciary at the Federal and Regional levels are administered by their own Judicial administration Councils.Thus, this is what we call self-regulation which by itself is a good tool for securing the independence of the judiciary.In this regard the selection,recruitment,promotion,demotion,etc...of judges in Ethiopia are handled by this council.

      While we discuss this issue there are other very important points that must be put in perspective such as the salary and benefits package of judges,the amount and the administration of court budgets, etc...which have either a direct or indirect impact on resolving the issue.

                You can share us facts and your own opinions on the issue at hand.