In Ethiopia, the use of mediation process as a traditional method of dispute resolution has been practiced for centuries. Even today in rural areas, particularly criminal dispute resolution processes dealing with victims and criminal offenders are widely practiced and deep rooted with varying degrees among the different ethnic groups in the country. For instance, the use of mediation process through Jaarsaa Biyya or Jaarsaa Araara among the Oromo and the other ethnic groups has been used. However, despite the potential applicability of these institutions as an Alternative criminal Dispute Resolution process in the local community, it has not yet attained any significant position of usage and acceptance in the formal criminal justice system. In other words, despite its wide practice and importance in resolving criminal disputes, Ethiopian formal criminal justice system failed to integrate mediation process as an alternative criminal dispute resolution process. 

Over the past year we have witnessed a lot of political turmoil in the Arab world and the rest of Africa. Particularly, in Maghreb Region including Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, there are unprecedented changes that swept the North Africa States in a very short time. Now in these countries, there is a shift from, at least, one man rule to rule by some people. Although situations seem to be better than ever, nobody still certainly knows where the revolution ends up and how far the positive changes could sustain. This uncertainty is created by, among other things, the coming of allegedly extremist religious political parties, specifically in Egypt, into power.

Hegemonic Stability theorists such as Robert Gilpin (cited in Friedberg, P.1) note that rapid changes are dangerous. Periods of accelerated economic and technological development typically result in dramatic shifts in the international distribution of military power, and these can raise the risks of misperception, mutual fears, miscalculation and confrontation.

Are Chinese aid, trade and investment considering regional and local political, economical and social situations? Or they are simply doing business in all areas in a similar fashion without considering varying local differences? Are they easily adaptive to existing environments? How about their life with he community they live? How about their aid to Africa – Ethiopia? Any conditions attached to their loans and aid?

Yes it is conventional wisdom of corruption that the latter may be reduced with the expansion of rule based and more market oriented institutions. It is also widely accepted that the role of corruption, in part, has been contributive to economic growth in East Asia. Are these compatible? By way of explaining the role of corruption for distinctive economic accomplishment for a short period in East Asia; I will develop the essay showing that it is due to other factors/reasons and not because the East Asian states lacked the aforementioned institutions and rules to tackle corruption that it was widespread but, fortunately and unexpectedly (unintentionally – D. Kang, said it!), was to their economic growth.

This essay attempts to address the undue focus on the lessened role of institutions on security issues while ignoring their (institutions) achievements in many other issue-areas to let them be conceived as weak instruments of international relations.Thomson and Snidal (1999), in their article International Organization have cited a lot of authorities witnessing that the application of institution has been expanded to a wide variety of issue-areas, including international security, trade, finance, telecommunications, and the environment. International legal scholars have also increasingly used institutions to understand better issues such as international trade laws, arms control agreements, and the law of treaties.

The aim of this paper is to examine the key issues with regard rule of law in a narrower sense with the view and in comparison of the rule of compromise in non-western societies where the latter focuses on African nations. The issues of Awramba are peculiar to this paper. Asserting that this phenomenon is replicable, the paper underpins the various arguments highlighting the incorporation extent of the rule of law on indigenous traditions under the broader umbrella of the rule of compromise. Further, the paper addresses the necessity of reconciliation and restoration of harmony even in the African continent when its children breach the laws adjudicated by outsider law. In doing so, a little show on the Awramba’s experience of the rule of compromise and its footage in promoting development and stability will be reflected.

This is a follow up on the post ‘Conceptions of Access to Justice’. It seeks to outline the international human rights framework on ‘the right to access to justice’ and briefly set out a monitoring framework capable of measuring the extent to which the right has been realized in a given national jurisdiction. Hopefully, this would lay the basis for consideration of the state of access to justice in the Ethiopian context in upcoming posts.