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Ethiopia Crime and Punishment
The Legal System
Although Ethiopians have long depended on written laws, the
criminal legal system observed at the time of the 1974
revolution was of relatively recent origin. The first
integrated legal code, the Fetha Nagast (Law of Kings), was
translated from Arabic in the mid-fifteenth century.
Attributed to a thirteenth-century Egyptian Coptic scholar,
it was inspired by the Pentateuch (the first five books of
the Old Testament), the New Testament, canons of the
Christians' early church councils, Roman civil law, and
tenets of Quranic law. However, the Fetha Nagast applied
only to Christians. Muslims who became subject to Ethiopian
rule through conquest continued to be judged in their own
courts according to sharia law (see
Islam, ch. 2). Also,
outside the ordinary judicial system, clan and tribal courts
exercised unofficial but effective coercive powers, and
people rarely appealed their decisions to regular courts.
The Fetha Nagast and customary laws remained the basis of
criminal judicial procedure until 1930, when Haile Selassie
introduced a penal code, which, although primitive in its
application, strove for modernity in its articulation.
Unlike the old system, the 1930 penal code set down specific
punishments for precisely defined offenses. It was a legal
principle that a person who performed an act not prohibited
by law committed no crime; nor were acts of omission
punishable by law. The code made distinctions among
preparatory acts, attempted crimes, and completed offenses.
Preparation in itself was not considered criminal, nor were
unsuccessful attempts, especially ones in which commission
of the offense was judged to be "absolutely impossible."
Courts did not inflict punishment if the accused acted out
of superstition or "simplicity of mind."
The penal code was strong on retribution, but the courts
determined penalties according to the degree of individual
guilt. In addition, the courts took into consideration an
offender's background, education, and motives, as well as
the offense's gravity and the circumstances of its
commission. In theory, the courts meted out the most severe
punishments to persons of title and wealth on the premise
that such offenders had less reasonable motives for criminal
action than did persons of lower station. Among the
complaints of ethnic dissidents, however, was the allegation
that any offense against an Amhara resulted in more severe
punishment than an Amhara's offense against a non-Amhara.
The new code abolished mutilation but retained capital
punishment and permitted flogging. Although more
sophisticated than the Fetha Nagast, from which it
ostensibly was derived, the 1930 penal code lacked a
comprehensive approach to the disposition and treatment of
offenders.
In 1958 a Swiss legal expert drafted a revised penal code
to meet the needs of a developing nation. A 1961 criminal
procedures code, drafted by a British jurist, augmented the
1930 penal code. The former was based on the Swiss penal
code and many secondary sources; the latter reflected the
influence of English common law.
For virtually every offense listed in the revised penal
code, there were upper and lower limits of punishment. The
effect was to stress acceptance of the concept of degrees of
culpability, as well as the concept of extenuating and
aggravating circumstances. Separate provisions existed for
juveniles. Nevertheless, the commission appointed to approve
the revision repeatedly expressed the traditional view that
"punishment should remain the pillar of Ethiopian criminal
law."
Following the 1974 revolution, a normal legal process
theoretically was in effect for dealing with criminal
offenses. Existing parallel to it was a "revolutionary"
system of neighborhood justice. In practice, it was
impossible to distinguish between criminal acts and
political offenses according to the definitions adopted in
post-1974 revisions of the penal code.
A November 1974 decree introduced martial law, which set up
a system of military tribunals empowered to impose the death
penalty or long prison terms for a wide range of political
offenses. The decree applied the law retroactively to the
old regime's officials who had been accused of
responsibility for famine deaths, corruption, and
maladministration and who had been held without formal
charges since earlier in the year. Special three-member
military tribunals sat in Addis Ababa and in each of the
country's fourteen administrative regions.
In July 1976, the government amended the penal code to
institute the death penalty for "antirevolutionary
activities" and economic crimes. Investigation of political
crimes came under the overall direction of the Revolutionary
Operations Coordinating Committee in each awraja. In
political cases, the courts waived search warrants required
by the criminal procedures code. The government transferred
jurisdiction from the military tribunals, which had been
inactive for some time, to kebele and peasant association
tribunals. Political trials constituted the main business of
these tribunals well into 1978.
More generally, the 1976 revision of the penal code
empowered association tribunals to deal with criminal
offenses but limited their jurisdiction to their urban
neighborhood or rural area. Elected magistrates, without
formal legal training, conducted criminal trials.
Procedures, precedents, and punishments varied widely from
tribunal to tribunal, depending on the imperatives of the
association involved. Peasant association tribunals accepted
appeals at the wereda (district) level. Appellate decisions
were final, but decisions disputed between associations
could be brought before peasant association courts at the
awraja level. In cities, kebele tribunals were similarly
organized in a three-tier system. Change of venue was
arranged if a defendant committed an offense in another
jurisdiction.
The judicial system was designed to be flexible.
Magistrates could decide not to hear a case if the defendant
pleaded guilty to minor charges and made a public apology.
Nonetheless, torture was sometimes used to compel suspects
and witnesses to testify. Penalties imposed at the local
association level included fines of up to 300 birr,
compensation to victims in amounts determined by the
tribunal, imprisonment for up to three months, and hard
labor for up to fifteen days. Serious criminal cases were
held over, depending on their gravity, for association
tribunals sitting at the awraja or wereda level, which were
qualified to hand down stiffer sentences. In theory, death
sentences were reviewed by government officials, but little
effort was made to interfere with the administration of
local justice. Tribunal decisions were implemented through
an association's public safety committee and were enforced
by the local People's Protection Brigade. Without effective
review of their actions, tribunals were known to order
indefinite jailings, during which their suspects sometimes
disappeared, as well as summary executions. On rare
occasions, the government would condemn association
officials for murder and torture committed in the course of
dispensing "revolutionary justice."
The 1976 revision of the penal code also created new
categories of so-called economic crimes. The list included
hoarding, overcharging, and interfering with the
distribution of consumer commodities. More serious offenses
concerned engaging in sabotage at the work place or of
agricultural production, conspiring to confuse work force
members, and destroying vehicles and public property.
Security sections of the Revolutionary Operations
Coordinating Committee investigated economic crimes at the
awraja level and enforced land reform provisions through the
peasant associations. These committees were empowered to
indict suspects and hold them for trial before local
tribunals. Penalties could entail confiscation of property,
a long prison term, or a death sentence.
In 1981 the Amended Special Penal Code replaced the Special
Penal Code. This amended code included offenses against the
government and the head of state, such as crimes against the
state's independence and territorial integrity, armed
uprising, and commission of "counterrevolutionary" acts
(these provisions also were in the earlier Special Penal
Code); breach of trust by public officials and economic
offenses, including grain hoarding, illegal currency
transactions, and corruption; and abuse of authority,
including "improper or brutal" treatment of a prisoner,
unlawful detention of a prisoner, and creating or failing to
control famine.
The Amended Special Penal Code also abolished the Special
Military Courts and created new Special Courts to try
offenses under the Amended Special Penal Code. Special
Courts consisted of three civilian judges and applied the
existing criminal and civil procedure codes. Defendants had
the right to legal representation and to appeal to a Special
Appeal Court.
Data as of 1991
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