The Ethiopian Criminal Code is the criminal code of Ethiopia. Stemmed from the 1957 Penal Code of the Ethiopian Empire, the FDRE regime repealed both the Ethiopian Empire and the Derg revised Proclamation in 1982 from 9 May 2005 and has 865 Articles.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.
The Ethiopian Civil Code entered into legal phenomena from 1957 Penal Code. [1] During this period, radical, political, economic and social changes have taken place in Ethiopia. [2] Among the changes, the Constitution was ratified by international agreement that enshrined equality between, religion, nations, citizens and residents, human rights, and most of all, the rights of social groups like women and children. [3]
The Penal Code did not addressed crime such as hijacking aircraft, cyberattacks and money laundering by early stages. [4]
Under FDRE Pro cited as "the Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" in 2004, the new proclamation act repealed the 1957 Penal Code of the Ethiopian Empire, the Revised Special Penal Code of the Provisional Military Administration Council 1982 and Proclamation No.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. [4]
The Article 3 of this Code shall not affect the application of special laws and regulations.
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. [4]
The Ethiopian Criminal Code specifies various crimes and penalties and measure applicable to criminals. The Court, 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 by final decision in accordance with the law. [4]
The general principle embodied in the Code should be applicable to those laws and regulations except as otherwise expressly provided therein. [4]
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. [4]
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions that are falsifiable, and can extend to concepts that are more abstract than reputation – like dignity and honour. In the English-speaking world, the law of defamation traditionally distinguishes between libel and slander. It is treated as a civil wrong, as a criminal offence, or both.
A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.
Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made sexual relations between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality as well as forms of prostitution and underage sexual abuse. Overall, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law. The law had always been controversial and inspired the first homosexual movement, which called for its repeal.
Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.
The legal system of Singapore is based on the English common law system. Major areas of law – particularly administrative law, contract law, equity and trust law, property law and tort law – are largely judge-made, though certain aspects have now been modified to some extent by statutes. However, other areas of law, such as criminal law, company law and family law, are largely statutory in nature.
The age of consent varies by jurisdiction across Europe. The ages of consent – hereby meaning the age from which one is deemed able to consent to having sex with anyone else of consenting age or above – are between 14 and 18. The vast majority of countries set their ages in the range of 14 to 16; only four countries, Cyprus (17), Ireland (17), Turkey (18), and the Vatican City (18), set an age of consent higher than 16.
The Federal Criminal Court, is a Swiss federal court. Since its inception in 2004, it has been located in Bellinzona.
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Act No. 3815, and some Philippine criminal laws have been enacted outside of the Revised Penal Code as separate Republic Acts.
Law enforcement in Ethiopia is dealt with by the Ethiopian Federal Police at federal level and by regional police commissions in the Regions of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP) was established in 1995 to serve the public, to ensure the observation of human and democratic rights and to maintain the safety and welfare of the public. Its stated duties are the enforcement of laws and safeguarding constitutional guarantees, the prevention, detection and investigation of crime, the coordination of national state police commissions and development of national policing standards. The EFP also has to provide operational support to regional police commissions.
However, local militias also provide local security largely independent of the police and the Ethiopian military. Corruption is a perennial problem, particularly among traffic police who solicited bribes.
The U.S. Department of State states that its contacts within the Ethiopian government report that the findings of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as arbitrary detentions and beatings of civilians, are rarely made public. However, the Ethiopian government continued its efforts to train police and army recruits in human rights. During 2008 the government was seeking assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the local non-governmental organization Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-PFE), and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to improve and professionalize its human rights training and curriculum. The JFA-PFE provided human rights training for police commissioners and members of the militia in 2008.
The current Penal Code of Brazil was promulgated in 1940, during the Estado Novo regime, and has been in effect since January 1, 1942. It is the third codification of criminal law in the country's history, succeeding those of 1830 and 1890. One notable feature of the document is the inclusion of libel as a crime.
Between 1941 and 1945, the government of Nazi Germany perpetrated the Holocaust: a large-scale industrialised genocide in which approximately six million Jews were systematically murdered throughout German-occupied Europe. Since World War II, several countries have criminalised Holocaust denial—the assertion by antisemites that the genocide was fabricated or has been exaggerated. Currently, 17 European countries, along with Israel and Canada, have laws in place that cover Holocaust denial as a punishable offence. Many countries also have broader laws that criminalise genocide denial as a whole, including that of the Holocaust. Among the countries that have banned Holocaust denial, Russia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania have also banned Nazi symbols. Additionally, any expression of genocide justification is also a criminal offence in several countries, as is any attempt to portray Nazism in a positive light.
A sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law, but are typically understood and defined by many courts and jurisdictions to include any or all forms of sexual acts that are illegal, illicit, unlawful, unnatural and immoral. Sodomy typically includes anal sex, oral sex, manual sex, and bestiality. In practice, sodomy laws have rarely been enforced to target against sexual activities between individuals of the opposite sex, and have mostly been used to target against sexual activities between individuals of the same sex.
Communist attitudes towards LGBT rights have evolved radically in the 21st century. In the 19th and 20th century, communist parties and Marxist–Leninist states varied on LGBT rights; some Western and Eastern parties were among the first political parties to support LGBT rights, while others, especially the Soviet Union and some of its Eastern Bloc members, harshly persecuted people of the LGBT community.
Since the new constitution of Ethiopia enacted in 1995, Ethiopia's legal system consisted of federal law with bicameral legislature. The House of People's Representatives (HoPR) is the lower chamber of bicameral legislature of Federal Parliamentary Assembly with 547 seats and the House of Federation with 108 seats, the former vested on executive power of Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the latter have authority to interpret federal law and oversees regional and federal decisions.
The Ethiopian Federal Police is the law enforcement agency of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Established in 1995, the agency aims with objectives of maintaining or safeguarding the public security, human and democratic rights, and respecting constitutional law.
Ethiopia retains capital punishment while not ratified the Second Optional Protocol (ICCR) of UN General Assembly resolution. Historically, capital punishments was codified under Fetha Negest in order to fulfill societal desire. Death penalty can be applied through approval of the President, but executions are rare.
Courts in Ethiopia divided into three-level structures: the State Supreme Court, High Courts and the First Instance Courts. State Courts are represented in every regions of Ethiopia and have seat in each capital cities. The FDRE Constitution provides judicial review to the Federal Supreme Court, delegated by State Supreme Court, Federal High Courts and Federal First Instance Courts respectively.
The Federal First Instance Court is the first-level court division in Ethiopia. The FDRE Constitution delegates judicial jurisdiction to the First Instance Court, along with the High Court and State Courts. It is headquartered in Addis Ababa in Kirkos district, with expectations of expanding new branches in all districts of Addis Ababa.
The Federal High Court of Ethiopia is the second-level court division in Ethiopia. The FDRE Constitution delegates judicial jurisdiction to the Federal High Court, along with the First Instance and State Courts. It has its headquarters in Addis Ababa's Lideta district.
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