Constitutional Review and Its Limits: The Case of the CCI
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Date
2018-01
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Limits to the constitutional courts power to entertain cases between private parties are necessary so that constitutional review of judicial decisions in individual complaints procedures do not distract constitutional courts from its unique task of ensuring that laws respect the Constitution; also, disturbing the judicial structure in each country and, specially, the position of the supreme court. Particularly, the challenge of constitutional courts potentially disturbing the judicial structure of a state is higher in countries that have centralized constitutional review mechanisms. In Germany and South Africa where there is a central constitutional court there has at least initially been a tendency of considering them as a seat of super jurisdiction of appeals. The same holds true for the Ethiopian system, the CCI’s recently established reputation as the super-jurisdiction of appeals, for cases that pass through the judicial system, has severely eroded the principle of finality. Countries such as Ethiopia which have adopted a non-court model of constitutional review face an even greater challenge, as the political body’s (HoF’s) interference in the adjudication process will effectively result in the violation of judicial independence.