Access to Justice in Ethiopia: Language Barrier in Criminal Proceedings at the Federal Level
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Date
2016-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopia is a multilingual country with federal form of state structure. The 1995 FDRE Constitution gave equal recognition for all Ethiopian languages but chose Amharic to become the working language of the Federal Government. In order to accommodate the needs of non-Amharic speakers in the provision of public services, the Constitution as well as other laws require the use of interpreters in criminal proceedings at the federal level. These legislations state that non-Amharic speakers should be assisted with “qualified” interpreter so as to meaningfully participate in their criminal cases.
The objective of this research is to explore government strategies towards language barrier in criminal proceedings, before and during trial, and assess major challenges that non-Amharic speakers encounter at the federal level. The finding of this research revealed that non-Amharic speakers are not being effectively served up to the legal standards. In fact, they are encountering multifaceted challenges that endanger their fundamental human rights. This is mainly due to the absence or limited number of interpreters as well as the use of unprofessional interpreters in criminal proceedings at the federal level.
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Keywords
Non-Amharic Speakers, anguage barrier, bilingual, interpreter, unprofessional