Justiciability Of Socio-economic Rights In The Federal Democratic Republic Of Ethiopia

Civil and political rights have for years received, both at the international and nationalrnlevels, much more prominence than socio-economic rights. Ethiopia is no exception inrnthis regard. It is safe to state that, in the realm of civil and political rights, much has beenrnachieved in Ethiopia. Many people freely exercise and enjoy the fundamental rights andrnfreedoms recognized and protected in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopianrn(FDRE) Constitution and ratified agreements, most of which are civil and political rights.rnHowever, the same cannot be said for socio-economic rights. This is because in thernexistence of such situation in the country, there are not many cases of these rightsrnentertained by the judiciary. In other legal systems, problems related to nature of socio-rneconomic rights, and legitimacy and competency of the judiciary in adjudicating thesernrights have impeded the judiciary’s efforts to enforce these crucial rights meaningfully. Inrnorder to explore why the adjudication of socio-economic rights under the Ethiopian legalrnsystem is under-developed, this research thus aims at examining and critically analyzingrnthe justiciability of socio-economic rights in Ethiopia. Hence, the justiciability of socio-rneconomic rights in the FDRE Constitution and ratified agreements is analyzed from thernperspective of the three normative pre-conditions of justiciability consisting of: claim,rnsetting and remedy elements of justiciability. Accordingly, this research argues thatrnsocio-economic rights can be enforced both directly and indirectly in Ethiopia. While therndirect way would be grounded on the provisions of substantive part of the Constitutionrnand ratified treaties, the indirect way would be grounded on the provisions found in thernNational Policy Principles and Objectives of the Constitution as well as cross-cuttingrnrights. Therefore, Ethiopian courts should adjudicate socio-economic rights.rnKey Words: Adjudication; Claim; Ethiopia; Justiciability; Remedy; Setting; Socio-rneconomic rights

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