Browsing by Author "Mulatu Gonfa"

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    Setting the Amount of Bail under Ethiopian Federal Courts: A Case Study in Federal first Instance Court
    (AAU, 2023-06) Mulatu Gonfa; Simeneh Kiros (PHD)
    This study focuses on the determination o f the amount o f bail. To date amount o f bail has been determined by the discretion o f judges. The right to bail is recognized under International Human Rights Instruments to which Ethiopia is a member, propagates the application and determination o f bail should be similar for similar cases. The amount o f bail fixed has an effect on the attendance and non-attendance o f the suspect before court o f law. The study used both a mixed approach o f qualitative and quantitative research approach in which case observations, interviews and court case analyses were employed. Interviewees o f the senior Judges, prosecutors and Advocates with the recommendation o f their respective institutions were used. The benches in Federal First Instance courts were selected on purposive sampling because they are largest in terms o f the number o f criminal cases brought to them. The case files from the selected benches were taken on random sampling technique. Among the factors that judges take in to account in determining the amount o f bail in Federal First Instance Court are the income and conditions o f the accused, the gravity o f the crime, the counts o f the crime. Decisions on the amount o f bail for suspect/accused at Federal First Instance Court are neither predictable nor consistent as the study has found out. Judges do not give the similar weight for factors that are necessary to be considered in bail decision. They appreciate the factors that are used for determining bail amount differently and some decisions lack clarity which has resulted in differences in the decisions. Hence, the decisions on the quantum o f bail are not uniform depending on the conditions in which the suspects are in. Since there is no sufficient law or directive as to what amount to decide on bail, The current inconsistency and non-uniformity in the application o f bail right can be cured via bail schedule containing the highest and the lowest amount and discretion o f judges within it so that it ensures the very purposes o f bail. In addition the gap observed in the inconsistency of decisions requires training o f judges on bail law. In doing so, Federal First Instance Courts management shall create conducive conditions for training ofjudges on bail amount fixation.