Laws and policies in Ethiopia

There are many different words used to describe the various types of law and policy, so we start with an overview of the terminology.

The hierarchy of laws

The highest law in Ethiopia is the Constitution (Proclamation No.1/1995) which was adopted by the highest legislative body (parliament) and signed by the head of state in 1995. It states (FDRE, 1995):

The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Any law, customary practice or a decision of an organ of state or a public official that contravenes this Constitution shall be of no effect.

The Constitution declares that Ethiopia is a federal and democratic state, and that religion and the state are separate. It describes the parliamentary structure of government and the human rights that are protected in the country. The Constitution states that the power to make national laws lies with the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) although some of their law-making powers are delegated to the Council of Ministers, which is the highest executive body in the government structure (Degol and Kedir, 2013).

The Constitution is at the top of a hierarchy of laws with different levels of importance, as shown in Figure 15.1.

Figure 15.1 The hierarchy of laws in Ethiopia.

Proclamations come below the Constitution in the hierarchy. They are acts of parliament, discussed and voted on in the HPR and signed by the president of Ethiopia. International treaties that have been ratified by Ethiopia (such as those you read about in Study Session 14) have similar status to proclamations because they are also enacted by the HPR.

Regulations are the next level. They are issued by the Council of Ministers to supplement a proclamation. Regulations have detailed descriptions of the provisions of the respective proclamation.

Directives are the lowest level in the Ethiopian legislation hierarchy. They describe how regulations should be implemented and are usually developed by a ministry or a department within a ministry.

At regional level, there is a similar hierarchy of state laws that includes proclamations, regulations and directives.

Policies, strategies and programmes

Policies are important statements of government plans. They lie outside the hierarchy of laws because they do not have the same legal status as proclamations, regulations and directives; however, they are related. Policies are statements of overall purpose that set out goals and provide principles that should be followed to achieve those goals. Policy goals and principles are made into laws by proclamations and regulations.

A strategy provides details for implementing a given policy. It sets out how policy goals will be achieved, for example by identifying who should be involved, and allocating roles and responsibilities. Examples of national strategies include the Food and Nutrition Strategy, Poverty Reduction Strategy, Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy, and National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategy.

Policies and strategies are put into effect in a range of programmes and projects, which could be described as action plans for implementation. Programme is a broad term used to describe any set of related events, activities or projects. Government programmes are specific to a particular sector and often cover a specified period such as five years. (Note that the word ‘policy’ is sometimes used in a more general sense to include any statement of overall aims, including strategies and programmes as well as named policies. We have used it in this broader sense in this study session.)

Ethiopian Government policies are based on the provisions of the Constitution. Several policies seek to deliver public benefits, including the Health Policy, Population Policy, Women’s Policy and the Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy.

Public policy is created at all levels of government – federal, regional, zonal and woreda – but it is not only governments that have policies. Organisations, and even families and individuals, develop policies to guide their actions.