The Ethiopian Criminal Code is the

criminal code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Stemmed from the 1957 Penal Code of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...

, the FDRE regime repealed both the Ethiopian Empire and the Derg revised Proclamation in 1982 from 9 May 2005 and has 865 Articles. Furthermore, the Code obligated to ensure order, peace and security of the country, its people, and inhabitants for the public good.

1957 Penal Code

The Ethiopian Civil Code entered into legal phenomena from 1957 Penal Code. During this period, radical, political, economic and social changes have taken place in Ethiopia. Among the changes, the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

was ratified by

international agreement A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

that enshrined equality between, religion, nations, citizens and residents, human rights, and most of all, the rights of social groups like women and children. The Penal Code did not addressed crime such as hijacking aircraft,

cyberattacks A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

by early stages.

FDRE Proclamation

Under

FDRE Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the no ...

Pro cited as "the Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" in 2004, the new proclamation act repealed the 1957 Penal Code of the Ethiopian Empire, the Revised Special Penal Code of the Provisional Military Administration Council 1982 and Proclamation No. 214/1982 from 9 May 2005. The Criminal Code has 865 Articles. The Article 3 of this Code shall not affect the application of special laws and regulations.

Objectives

The purpose of the FDRE Criminal Code is to ensure order, peace and the security of the country, its people, and inhabitants for the public good.

Principle of legality

The Ethiopian Criminal Code specifies various crimes and penalties and measure applicable to criminals. The

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

, do not treat as a crime that are outside law measures, and do not impose penalty that is not prescribed by the law nor creating crime by analogy. These provisions shall not prevent the Court from interpreting the law. The Court allowed to interpret law according to its "spirit", and in accordance with legislative embodying to achieve the purpose of its view. The Code also obligated to not tried and punish a person again which already subjected to other measures and

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

by final decision in accordance with the law.

Other penal legislation

The general principle embodied in the Code should be applicable to those laws and regulations except as otherwise expressly provided therein.

Equality before the law

These criminal law applies accordingly without any outer discrimination regards to persons, social conditions, race, nation, nationality, social origin, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, property, birth or other status. These derived from immunities sanctioned by public international and constitutional law, or relate gravity, degree of crime and guilt, the age of circumstances or special personal characteristics of the criminal, and the social danger which he/she represents.

References

{{Reflist Law of Ethiopia Judiciary of Ethiopia