¹ John H. Spencer was the Emperor's advisor for four decades; Nathan Marein was the Advocate General and General Adviser to the Imperial Ethiopian Government; Christine Sanders lived in Ethiopia from 1920 to 1935 and after a brief interruption during the Italian occupation and from 1942 on. She Knew the Emperor from the time he was a regent and later Emperor; David Abner Talbot was editor of the Ethiopian Herald; Richard Greenfield lived for many years and was Dean of Students at the Addis Abeba University and lived through the coup d ètat of 1960; Christopher Clapham lived in Ethiopia to undertake his research for his book; Edward Ullendorff lived in Ethiopia five years working on his book; John Buchholzer who wrote, The Land of Burnt Faces traveled in Ethiopia extensively; C.H. Walker: Consul for Western Ethiopia at Gore’ and who “was connected with Abyssinia for more than twenty years and Kenneth Redden was Fulbright professor at the Haile Selassie I University (HSIU) later renamed Addis Ababa University.Google Scholar

² Perham, Margery. The Government Of Ethiopia 10 (1969)Google Scholar

³ Ullendorff, Edward. The Ethiopians An Introduction To Country And People 1 (1965)Google Scholar

⁴ Id. at 2-3.Google Scholar

⁵ Sandford, Christine. Ethiopia Under Haile Selassie 8 (1964)Google Scholar

⁶ The Transworld Airlines (TWA) the predecessor of the Ethiopian Airlines did not start until 1945, see Spencer, Ethiopia at Bay at 165; the railway that run between Addis and Djibouti did not start until 1917, see Talbot at 145. There were only 2,500 miles of dry weather roads in 1935 see Talbot at 139 and until the Italians built more roads during the occupation, most of the states, particularly the northern states were not connected with the rest of the country.Google Scholar

⁷ See Art 5 of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution.Google Scholar

⁸ See Art 5 and particularly Art 39(2) of the 1995 Constitution which states in part that ‘Every Nation, Nationality and People have the right, to write and develop its own language; to express, develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history.”Google Scholar

⁹ The States using Amharic as their working language are Afar, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambela and Southern Nations, nationalities and Peoples.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has never been colonized except for the brief occupation by the Italians from 1935-1941.Google Scholar

¹¹ Sandford supra note 5 at 16.Google Scholar

¹² Perham, Supra note 2 at 138.Google Scholar

¹³ Talbot, David A. Contemporary Ethiopia 153 (1952).Google Scholar

¹⁴ Black's Law Dictionary 443 (9^th ed. 2009).Google Scholar

¹⁵ Ullendorf, supra note 3 at 185.Google Scholar

¹⁶ See discussion infra.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Id. at 186.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Id. at 185-86.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Redden, Kenneth R. The Legal System Of Ethiopia 43 (1968).Google Scholar

²⁰ Id.Google Scholar

²¹ Id.Google Scholar

²² See Art. 34(5) of the 1995 Constitution which state in part that, “the Constitution shall not preclude the adjudication of disputes relating to personal and family laws in accordance to religious and customary laws, with the consent of the parties to the dispute. See also Art. 785 (which states that the House of Peoples’ Representatives and State Councils can establish or give official recognition to religious and customary courts.Google Scholar

²³ Kebele Social Courts Recognized by State Constitutions Afar Art 99; Beninshangu Art 108; Gambela Art 110; Amhara Art 107; South Art 114; Somalia Art 98; Oromia Art 101; Harari Art 75.Google Scholar

²⁴ Traditional and religious courts have been recognized by federal and state constitutions. See Harari Constitution Art. 68, Amhara Arts 65 & 66; Afar Art 63 and 65: The Afars call the traditional court as Shemagile Court; Beninshangul Art 66; Gambela Art 67; Southern Art. 73; Oromia Art. 62Google Scholar

²⁵ The Fetha Negast the Law of Kings (Peter L. Strauss ed., Abba Paulos Tzadua trans. Page V. (2009). The FN was translated into Italian by Ignazio Guidi and later into Amharic (translator unknown.)Google Scholar

²⁶ Marein, Nathan. The Ethiopian Empire – Federation And Laws 152 (1955) see also Talbot, supra note 13 at 155.Google Scholar

²⁷ Talbot, supra note 13 at 4.Google Scholar

²⁸ Sandford, supra note 5 at 10.Google Scholar

²⁹ Perham, supra note 2 at 116.Google Scholar

³⁰ Id. The clergy and their wives were allowed to marry once and after the death of either spouse, the surviving spouse entered the monastic life.Google Scholar

³¹ Id. at 116. Perham comments that Emperor Menelik was allowed to marry Empress Taitu as her fifth husband who would have been impossible to do had he followed the stricter church doctrine on marriage.Google Scholar

³² Spencer, John. Ethiopia At Bay: A Personal Account Of The Haile Selassie Years 205 (19840)Google Scholar

³³ Id. Because of the relaxing of the monogamous marriages, Spencer writes that Empress Taitu was married four times and Empress Menen was married four times, the last husband being Emperor Haile Selassie.Google Scholar

³⁴ Id.Google Scholar

³⁵ Talbot, supra note 13 at 47.Google Scholar

³⁶ These marriages were mostly for people living in the highland areas. The Moslems followed their rituals according Mohammedan laws where their courts had special jurisdiction to handle such matters as marriage and divorce.Google Scholar

³⁷ Spencer, supra at 31 at 102 note 1. Maria Theresa thaler was a silver coin named after Empress Maria Theresa who ruled Austria and Bohemia from 1740 - 1780. It was an Austrian coin of one troy ounce and 83% fitness first minted in 1951. It was the currency throughout Ethiopia until the Ethiopian currency appeared on May 29, 1945 by Proclamation No. 76/45 and later amended by Proclamation No. 112/50 that came out on March 30, 1950. It should be noted that along with the Maria Theresa, the Egyptian, East African and Indian Rupee were used at the same time. The term “shilling” which is still used come from the British currency.Google Scholar

³⁸ See discussion of Chika Shum infra.Google Scholar

³⁹ Marein, supra note 25 at 162.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Perham, supra note 2 at 278.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Id. at 280.Google Scholar

⁴² Ullendorf, supra note at 188.Google Scholar

⁴³ Sandford, supra note 5 at 1.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ MILLER, ARTHUR A., Customary Land Tenure System Among the Highland Peoples of Northern Ethiopia, 1 Afr. L. Stud.1 (1969)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴⁵ Id._at 3.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Chika shum was the person elected by the villagers themselves or appointed by the provincial governor depending on the locality and he was the person well versed in the customary agrarian laws.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Perham, supra note 2 at 275.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Ullendorff, supra note 3 at 46.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Id. at 186Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Id.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Sandford, supra note 5 at 84.Google Scholar

⁵² Marein, supra note 25 at 152.Google Scholar

⁵³ Id.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Perham, supra note 2 at 84.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ Id. at 143Google Scholar

⁵⁶ See The Fetha Negast The Law of Kings Page xv.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Id. at xvi.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ See the Fetha Negast Chapter XLIII page 249 on judges.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Talbot, supra note 13 at 154 and Marein, supra note 25 at 151. (notice the similar language).Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Talbot, supra note 13 at 154 and Marein, supra note 25 at 151. Both Talbot and Marein have used similar languages throughout their books. Neither acknowledged the other.Google Scholar

⁶¹ Talbot, supra note 13 at 154.Google Scholar

⁶² Talbot, supra note at 154 and Marein, supra note at 151-52Google Scholar

⁶³ See the Fetha Negast Chapter XXXI on page 175.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Sandford, supra note at 56.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Marein, supra note at 189.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Perham, supra note at 225.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Marein, supra note at 190.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ See discussion infra.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Id.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Sandford, supra note at 82.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Mengistu Neway was the exception to this rule. He was a general who was hanged on March 30, 1960at the Teklehaimanot Square for his involvement in the aborted Coup d'état of 1960. Since 1921 execution by hanging took place outside Addis Abeba.Google Scholar

⁷² Marein, supra note 25 at 152.Google Scholar

⁷³ Id.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Redden, supra note 18 at 44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷⁵ Id. It may be argued that the Fetha Negast was the binding law prior to the Penal Code; however, the Fetha Negast only applied to Christian Ethiopia and was not inclusive of all Ethiopians.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Id.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Marein, supra note 25 at 180.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ See Chapter VI of the 1955 Constitution.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Black's Law Dictionary 294 (9^th ed. 2009).Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Rene, David. A Civil Code For Ethiopia: Considerations on the Codification of the Civil Law in African Countries, 37 Tul. L. Rev. 187 (Remy F. Gross, trans.) 1962-63.Google Scholar

⁸¹ Redden, supra note 18 at 73.Google Scholar

⁸² Id. at 47.Google Scholar

⁸³ Id. at 48-49.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Although the substantive codes followed continental models, Ethiopia adopted the common-law approach to procedural law.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Redden, supra, note 18 at 73.Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Id. at 74.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ Id. at 52.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Id.Google Scholar

⁸⁹ Rene, David. Sources of the Ethiopian Civil Code, 4 J Of Ethiopian Law 341,(1967)Google Scholar

⁹⁰ In the appendix to “An Introduction to Ethiopian Penal Law Art 1-84 Penal Code” Philippe Graven, for instance, provides the countries from which the main foreign provisions in the drafting of, Art 1-84 of the Ethiopian Penal Code have been taken and they are from Yugoslav, Greek, Danish, Swiss, Italian, Brazilian, German, Dutch, French, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese. See page 217.Google Scholar

⁹¹ The authors of these codes were: Professor Jean Graven from Switzerland who drafted the 1957 Penal Code; Professor R. David from France who drafted the Civil Code in 1960; Professor J. Escarra from France drafted the 1960 Maritime Code, Sir Charles Mathew of England drafted the Criminal Procedure in 1961; Professors J. Escarra and A. Jauffret of France drafted the Commercial Code of 1960 and Ato Nerayo Esayas an Ethiopian jurist, drafted the Civil Procedure Code in 1965.Google Scholar

⁹² Redden, supra note 18 at 51.Google Scholar

⁹³ Id.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Id. at 53.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ Id. at 52.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Id. at 75.Google Scholar

⁹⁷ Id. at 76.Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Id. at 77.Google Scholar

⁹⁹ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰ Id. at 79.Google Scholar

¹⁰¹ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁰² Id.Google Scholar

¹⁰³ Id. at 79-80.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁴ Id. at 80.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁵ Marein, supra note 25 at 152.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁶ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁷ Walker, C. H. The Abyssinian At Home, 163 (1933)Google Scholar

¹⁰⁸ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁹ The Brehanena Selam was a weekly newspaper that appeared on Thursdays. The first publication appeared on Thursday, January 1, 1925 both in Amharic and French. There were no decrees or legal notices on the first issue, however, there were some laws that appeared in later newspapers and there were three cases reported from the Crown Prince's Chilot (highest appellate court) and one of the cases was between Altaye and Dejazmatch Seyoum and the case dealt with will.Google Scholar

¹¹⁰ Marein, supra note 25 at 31.Google Scholar

¹¹¹ The chartered cities and states have their own gazettes: Addis Abeba city has Addis Negarit Gazeta, the city of Dire Dawa has Dire Negarit Gazeta, The state of Oromia has Megeleta Oromia, Tigray has Negarit Gazeta Beherawi Mengiste Tigray; Benshangul Gumuz has Lisane Hig; Amhara has Zikre Hig; Harari has Harari Negarit Gazeta, Afar has Dinkara and Southern Nations, Nationalities and peoples has Debub Negarit Gazet.Google Scholar

¹¹² See Art 57 of the 1995 Constitution.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹¹³ See Art 31 and 32 of the 1931 Constitution. ^1,4 See Art 35 of 1931 Constitution.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹¹⁵ See Art 36 of the 1931 ConstitutionGoogle Scholar

¹¹⁶ Marein, supra note 25 at 29.Google Scholar

¹¹⁷ See Art 63 of the 1987 Constitution.Google Scholar

¹¹⁸ See Art.53 of the 1995 Constitution.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹¹⁹ See Art. 54(1) and (2).Google Scholar

¹²⁰ See Art 54(3).Google Scholar

¹²¹ See Art 55(1) and (2).Google Scholar

¹²² See Art. 55 of the 1995 Constitution for more duties.Google Scholar

¹²³ For power of the President see Art 71 of the 1995 Constitution.Google Scholar

¹²⁴ See Art 59.Google Scholar

¹²⁵ See Art 61.Google Scholar

¹²⁶ Id.Google Scholar

¹²⁷ See Art 62.Google Scholar

¹²⁸ See Art 62 for more of the powers.Google Scholar

¹²⁹ The Chalo system is practiced in the Fufa Toba area located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples region.Google Scholar

¹³⁰ Kaplan, Irving, et al. Area Handbook For Ethiopia 284 (1970). Since these courts are generally recognized by the 1995 Constitution, it is assumed these and similar courts still exist.Google Scholar

¹³¹ Id.Google Scholar

¹³² Chika Shum or officer of the mud or land so called because he is a person attached to the land permanently until he is replaced. In some areas this position was hereditary. For more readings, see Sandford at 17 and Perham at 143, et seq.Google Scholar

¹³³ Perham, supra note at 145.Google Scholar

¹³⁴ Buchholzer, John. Land Of The Burnt Faces, (TRANS. translated from Danish Maurice Michael, 61 (1955) For more info on local system read more from this book and also from C.H. Walker's The Abyssinian at Home.Google Scholar

¹³⁵ Marein, supra note25 at 113. For more on public prosecutor go to pages 113-114.Google Scholar

¹³⁶ Id.Google Scholar

¹³⁷ It could be argued that the power of the Emperor to sit in Chilot came from Art. 26 of the 1955 Ethiopian Constitution which states that the Sovereign of the Empire is vested in the Emperor and the supreme authority over all the affairs of the Empire is exercised by Him as the Head of State, in the manner provided for in the present Constitution.Google Scholar

¹³⁸ Sedler, Robert A., The Chilot Jurisdiction of the Emperor of Ethiopia: A Legal Analysis in Historical and Comparative Perspective. 8 J. Afr. L 56, 67 (1964)Google Scholar

¹³⁹ Greenfield, Richard. Ethiopia A New Political History 290 (1965)Google Scholar

¹⁴⁰ Sedler, supra note 135 at 64.Google Scholar

¹⁴¹ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁴² Id. at 59.Google Scholar

¹⁴³ Id. at 67.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁴ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁵ Id. at 71.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁶ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁷ Interpretations of these two terms are mine.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁸ Id. at 73-74.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁹ Id. at 74.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁰ Perham, supra note 2 at 464, 474 (see Appendices E and F Perham Article 2 (A).Google Scholar

¹⁵¹ Id. at 93.Google Scholar

¹⁵² Sandford, supra note 5 at 80.Google Scholar

¹⁵³ For more reading on this court and the others created by 1942 Proclamation, see Marein at 70.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁴ Marein, supra note 2 at 96.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁵ Id._at72.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁶ Id. The dollar has since been changed to Birr starting with the military government.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁷ Sandford, supra note 5 at 86.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁸ Marein, supra note 25 at 152-3.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁹ Singer, Norman J. Singer, A traditional Legal Institution in Modem Legal Setting: The Atbia Dagna of Ethiopia, 18 UCLA L. Rev, 308, 313-314 (1970-1971). ¹⁶⁰ Id. at 314.Google Scholar

¹⁶¹ Perham, supra note 2 at 152.Google Scholar

¹⁶² Id.Google Scholar

¹⁶³ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁴ Marein, supra note 25 at 441.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁵ See Article 13 of the 1944 Agreement. And for further reading on the Agreement see Perham at 474.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁶ Spencer, supra note 31 at 98.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁷ Id. at 99. Throughout this article you will see two spellings: Addis Ababa and Addis Abeba. Ababa is used when it is included in a citation and Abeba is my preferred spelling of the city.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁸ See Art 78(1) of 1995 Constitution.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁹ See Art 42 of the Charter.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁰ Id.Google Scholar

¹⁷¹ See Art 50 of the City Charter.Google Scholar

¹⁷² Marein, supra note 25 at 174.Google Scholar