Access to legal information in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has been experiencing a major ground swell of social, economic, cultural and political changes. While the movement towards fundamental political change is remarkable, there are certain formidable challenges that will make the country to a stable, democratic and pluralist system of governance very difficult. It is difficult to anticipate legal protection when, recognition and protection of legal empowerment of the citizens and access to justice is not fully realized. The cultural, historical, and political conditions in the country are not simply too conducive to the emergence and growth of strong human rights principles and constitutional guarantees. No one can deny that knowledge of the law is a necessary basis for civic activity and for people’s capacity to comply with the law. When legal information is equally and easily known to all, the incidents of violation and abuse of law are less. In this context, “access to law” can significantly contribute to a better establishment of the rule of law. “Access to law,” as used in this book, pertains to access to the text of of the law.