Ethiopia

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The 2012 study has reaffirmed that the Ethiopian legal and policy framework is generally conducive to protecting the rights of the vulnerable and assuring their right of access to justice. The legal spectrum extends from constitutional provisions and ratification of international human rights instruments down to substantive, procedural, and subsidiary laws. 

The overall perception on accessibility of justice in the country is positive, albeit with variations specific to each of the justice sector institutions, in that the closer the justice institution is to the community, the more positive the perception. 

One major intervention that improved access to justice is the establishment of courts and benches in different parts of the city. However, in most cases, court facilities and structures were not up to par. Most courts are in buildings not custom-built as courthouses. Some are even in rented premises with severe space constraints and an acute shortage of trial chambers. Almost all of them lack access facilities— such as ramps—for the disabled and seats for court users. The courts are not all strategically located, as has been pointed out by businesswomen in Addis Merkato, who would have liked to see a court close by. Victims of domestic violence and the witnesses also perceived courts to be distant. 

A further challenge is the perennial shortage of judges and other judicial personnel at all levels. Turnover of judicial staff and personnel is rampant, particularly in information technology. Obviously, this harms the efficiency and effectiveness of the courts, hampering access to justice of vulnerable groups. At this juncture, one might also mention the finding that there is virtually no organized system of collecting and disseminating justice information. 

Awareness of the vulnerable concerning their rights and the operation of the legal system are not encouraging—most had minimal awareness of either. That courts and other justice institutions lack an information network to sensitize vulnerable groups about their rights worsens the problem. The lack of awareness campaigns even about reform measures and available resources for legal empowerment contributes to negative perceptions about accessibility. 

The study reaffirms that the vulnerable lack both the awareness and the capacity to take all legal claims to courts and alternative channels. It further suggests that personal, economic, and social security issues at home and in communities (such as inheritance, divorce, child custody, childcare, division of common property, and domestic violence) are burning issues for the vulnerable. A critical factor in this regard is the low social and economic status of women, which acts as psychological and material barrier. The two factors feed on one another, in that they not only expose women to the infringement of their rights, but they also hinder them from accessing the justice system to find redress. 

Women at the community level also claim that gender bias against women by the justice sector officials remains high, particularly in the case of police. This perception holds despite the acknowledged fact the there is progress in establishing gender sensitive and child-friendly judicial and law enforcement mechanisms (institutions and procedures).