This essay examines the normative contemporary constitutional law question ‘how constitutionality of laws is controlled?’ under Ethiopian and Nigerian Federal Systems. In constitutional terms, both this question and federal systems require a written constitution that serve as a fundamental or basic law and placed hierarchically at the highest peak.
"No law, regulation, directive or practice shall, in so far as it is inconsistent with this Proclamation, have force or effect with respect to matters provided for by this Proclamation”.
Paradoxically, in most modern societies, the larger proportion of the law—delegated legislation—is not made by elected lawmakers or the proper legislature. To an increasing extent, law in these countries is made through the Executive branch, not the parliament. The common practice for Acts of Parliament to bestow power (through empowering acts) to make regulations, particularly to government Ministers, is an obvious manifestation of this development.
Before considering the subject matter of this article, a brief explanation of the history of Ethiopian Codes and constitutional development is helpful because it focuses attention on the key issues that I would like to raise. The Ethiopian legal system constitutes the Constitution, international treaties, codified laws, and statues as a primary source of law. This essay, however, limits itself to codified laws and primary legislation.
I will try to make this short essay as perceptive as possible and I will try to avoid legal jargon. Legal jargon is thought to make a writer’s essay water-tight, however, I think this is a misperception, and such language should only be used when it is necessary to describe something accurately- with the right context, meaning and empirical reference. I do this because I do not want my reader to feel alienated by merely looking at the title. I think it is better to address the question: why am I tempted to write about ‘Legal Orientalism’?
In different legal systems of the world, properties are classified into different categories such as personal and real, private and public, movable and immovable, absolute and qualified, corporeal and incorporeal, etc. The distinction between these types of property is significant for a variety of reasons. Firstly, classification ensures the proper application of the law. This is because the legal regime that governs goods depends on their nature and accordingly their legal treatment substantially varies. For instance, one's rights on movables are more attenuated than one's rights on immovable (or real property). The statutes of limitations or prescriptive periods are usually shorter for movable than immovable property. Besides, real property rights are usually enforceable for a much longer period of time and, in most jurisdictions, real estate and immovable are registered in government-sanctioned land registers. More essentially, the manner for transfer of the possession or ownership of things depends on their nature. For example, the possession of ordinary corporeal chattels (movable things) may be transferred upon delivery. On the contrary, possession of immovable things requires more additional formalities like registration. In short, classification of property has a paramount importance in facilitating legal regulation of property rights and economic transactions.
A law that has been in force since 2005 (Federal Courts Proclamation 454/2005) declares that interpretations of law rendered by the Cassation Division of the Federal Supreme Court (hereinafter referred to as CDFSC), are binding on all federal and state courts. However, according to the same law, this does not prevent the CDFSC from providing a different interpretation in the future.
ከሰሞኑ በፌዴራል የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት ፍቺን በተመለከተ ለየት ያለ ውሳኔ ተሰጥቷል፡: ይህን ውሳኔ ለሕዝብ ይፋ ቢደረግ ጠቃሚ ሃሳብ እንዲሸራሸር ሊረዳ የሚችል ከመሆኑም በላይ ሕጉንም ለመፈተሸ ይረዳል በሚል አስተያየት ለአንባብያን ለማድረስ እሞክራለሁ፡፡ ጉዳዩ ይፋ ቢሆንም ይግባኝ ሊቀርብበት የሚችል በመሆኑ ለጊዜው የግለሰቦችን ስም ተቀይሯል፡፡ የጉዳዩ ዝርዝር ሁኔታውም ከዚህ በታች ባለው መልኩ ተቀምጧል፡፡
- ሃይማኖታዊ ይዘት ያላቸው ስራዎች የቅጂ መብት በአዋጁ እንዴት ይታያል?
- ያለ ባለቤቱ ፍቃድ ማሳተም አለመከልከሉ የቅጂ መብትን ሌላ ሰው እንዲጠቀም መፍቀድ ማለት ነው፤
- በመፅሔት፣ በጋዜጣ እና በመፅሐፍ የወጡ ስራዎች የሚኖራቸው የቅጂ መብት ጥበቃ ይለያያል?
- በአለቃ አያሌው ታምሩ ወራሾችና በአንድ አሳታሚና ማተሚያ ቤት መሀከል እስከ ሰበር የደረሰው የቅጂ መብት ጥሰት ክርክር በምን ተቋጨ?
1. ሃይማኖታዊ ስራዎችና የቅጂ መብት
ጋብቻ ክቡር፣ ምኝታውም ቅዱስ እንደ ሆነ የሀይማኖት መጻህፍት ያስተምራሉ፡፡ ከዚህም ሌላ ጋብቻ የህብረተሰብ ተፈጥሯዊ መነሻ የሆነው ቤተሰብ የሚመሰረትበት በመሆኑ ከመንግስትና ከህብረተሰብ ያላሰለሰ የህግ ጥበቃ ይደረግለታል፡፡ ይህም ጉዳይ በበርካታ አለም አቀፋዊ፣ አህጉራዊና ብሄራዊ ህጎች እውቅና አግኝቷል፡፡
ፌቡራሪ 17/2014 እ.ኤ.አ. ዕለተ ሰኞ ንብረትነቱ የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የሆነ በበረራ ቁጥር ET 702 የተመዘገበ ቦይንግ 767 የመንገደኞች ማመላለሻ አውሮፕላን ከአዲስ አበባ በሱዳን በኩል አድርጎ ወደ ጣሊያን ሲበር በረዳት አብራሪው ሃይለመድህን አበራ ተገድዶ ስዊዘርላንድ ጄኔቭ ማረፉን ተከትሎ የስዊዘርላንድ መንግስት ረዳት አብራሪውን ለኢትዮጵያ አሳልፎ እንደማይሰጥና በስዊዘርላንድ መንግስት የህግ ከለላ እንደሚደረግለት እንዲሁም ረዳት አብራሪው ያቀረበው የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት ጥያቄም ከፍርድ ሂደቱ በኋላ ምላሽ እንደሚያገኝ ጉዳዩም በስዊስ ሃገር ፍ/ቤት የሚዳኝ መሆኑን መግለጹን ከተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች መገንዘብ ችለናል፡፡