Ethiopia Politics and Military

Political order. – The new constitution was issued on November 4, 1955; in its drafting, developed by experts before Europeans then Americans, had begun to put its hands since 1948. It has been called “amended constitution” (Engl. revised c., Amharic Yata š Å lä h E GGA ??? Mang E st), at the suggestion of the experts themselves, so that it does not seem that the new constitutional act abrogates the rather rudimentary constitution of 1931, with respect to which, in reality, little or nothing it innovates in substance, while it is clear the intention to reiterate the power of supreme regulator of the state recognized to the sovereign. For the first time, the Ethiopian Church is institutionally framed in the structure of the state, entrusting itself to the sovereign with its temporal order and the appointment of its bishops. The parliament is composed of the Chamber of deputies (YaH and g mämriy  m and k and r b í and t “Council to initiate legislation”), elective, and the Senate (yah E g mawåssañ  m E k E r b ï ê t “Council for the decision of the laws”), imperial nomination. In accordance with the time limits set by the new constitution, from 11 September to 10 October (period corresponding to the month of maskarram with which the Ethiopian year begins) 1957 were held, for the first time, the political elections for the appointment of the members of the Chamber of Deputies, in number of 210 (of which 14 Eritreans). Political parties not being admitted, the candidates were independent; with the voluntary registration of the voters, the lack of a registry status was made up for; women were also allowed to vote, direct and secret. In relation to the number of elected deputies, the Senate was made up of 105 members (of which 9 Eritreans). For Ethiopia political system, please check cancermatters.net.

On the way to the establishment of the juridical instruments regulating the life of the modernized Ethiopian society, provision is also being made for the emanation of organic norms codes for the various branches of law. In 1957 the new penal code was promulgated (which entered into force in 1958), drawn up by a Swiss jurist, who was part of a committee that included other French jurists, charged with preparing the civil, commercial and maritime codes, promulgated in 1960.

The written rules, which the Ethiopian state is gradually giving itself to regulate the conduct of public life, made known in the Amharic and English languages ​​(the first, the official national language; the second, an official foreign language) have the form of aw ḡ ǧ (Engl. proclamation), t is ‘ and z  z (Engl. order), DANB (Engl. decree), m ā st ā wåqiy Å (Engl. notice), which, in turn, can also be T aql ā ll (Engl. general) and YaH and g (Engl. legal). The faculty to legislate is exercised, as well as by the sovereign and the parliament, by the executive power (ministers), as authorized to do so for matters on which the legislative power has already initially ruled; the executive power then issues all internal regulations (yäwus ṭ dänb). The formal structure of the provisions is that of the West, to which the experts with whose assistance they are developed belong belong. It is up to the sovereign or to several members of parliament to propose laws, but no law is actually proposed without the consent of the first.

Ministers and deputy ministers are chosen and appointed by the sovereign; the bills they propose pass to parliament after sovereign approval. The powers, functions and organization of the ministries are, formally, those of the West, from which, almost always, come the experts who are actually entrusted with the functioning of the administrative apparatus; in reality, the traditional customs of Ethiopian feudal society weigh on their functioning.

Administrative order. – The peripheral administration of the state takes place with the division of the territory into 12 provinces divided into 72 districts and these into districts and sub-districts. At the head of the provinces is a governor general of royal appointment, assisted by a director also of royal appointment, assisted by an advisory council.

The municipal order has been adopted in major city centers, whose administration presides over a mayor (käntib Å in Addis Ababa and Gondar, yäkatam  š um “end of town” elsewhere), dependent on the governor general of the province or, in Addis Abeba, by the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Armed Forces. – Public order and defense have their own military corps, whose education and organization have been entrusted to foreigners, mostly Europeans (including military aviation, with school in Debrä ??? Zäìt, formerly Bisoftu); elite troops form the body of the Sovereign’s Guard.

Judicial system. – A supreme court of the sovereign has been created, presided over by afa n ĕ gùs (traditional office inserted in the new structure) and usually also including a non-Ethiopian judge (belonging to the High Court), although many of the cases submitted to it pass to the personal decisions of the sovereign; a High Court (commissioned by the British government, with the 1942 treaty, to protect the judgment of Europeans), composed of a variable number of sections, also includes European judges, who preside over some sections, and temporary adjunct judges of imperial and has no limits to its jurisdiction (it can also act as a court of first instance), which extends to administrative justice and particular civil disputes of a public nature.There are, then, the provincial, district or regional, district and sub-district courts, where European judges do not sit and with jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. An appeal is foreseen by the lower court than the higher one, and the judgment pronounced on the appeal is final. In 1947 the local judge was established with pre-eminent function of conciliator judge, appointed by the minister (Ministry of the Interior). The particular court is the State Security Court (established in 1947), with its related Court of Appeal; the ecclesiastical authorities, moreover, continue to exercise traditional jurisdictional rights, of limited extent. Muslims have their own courts competent in private matters.