The Legal and Practical Challenges of Constitutional Adjudication in Ethiopia: The Case of the Council of Constitutional Inquiry

Abstract

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) adopts a unique constitutional interpretation or adjudication mechanism whereby the House of Federation (HoF), a political organ, is entrusted with adjudicating constitutional disputes. It also establishes a Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI) to investigate constitutional disputes and, if the latter finds there is a need for constitutional interpretation, to submit recommendations to the HoF. This article examines the constitutional interpretation jurisdiction of the CCI and the legal and practical challenges attached to its task. To explore these issues, cases decided and submitted to the HoF have been analysed. The author is a team leader in the research and study directorate of the secretariat of the CCI, and makes both professional and personal observations. The article posits that the CCI has played a major role in constitutional interpretation. The constitutional interpretation power and jurisdiction of the CCI, which have been the subject of debate, have been placed beyond controversy by the decisions and recommendations of the CCI. According to these decisions, the CCI has the power and jurisdiction to entertain any constitutional issues submitted to it. It also has the power and jurisdiction to determine whether the issue submitted to it for constitutional interpretation is a constitutional issue or not. Despite the importance of the CCI’s role, though, it faces key challenges that hinder it from being efficient and effective. These challenges relate to the part-time working condition of the council. The council proclamation provides that council members undertake constitutional adjudication tasks on a part-time basis. Practice shows likewise that council members have been appointed and nominated as part-time workers and that their tasks have been undertaken entirely as part-time work. This has affected both the quality of the council’s work and the number of constitutional cases it has decided and recommended.