Legal impact assessment – Oromia customary courts

The Ethiopian Ministry of Justice has produced a three year justice sector transformational plan. One priority in this plan is to improve justice delivery at the community level by expanding the establishment of customary courts, such as those employed in the Oromia regional state. To support this ambition, the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice requested HiiL’s assistance in conducting a legal impact assessment of Oromia customary courts.

Customary dispute resolution 

Customary courts represent one scalable model of community justice services with the potential to be transformative.

43% of legal disputes in Ethiopia are resolved through customary dispute resolution mechanisms involving village elders [source: HiiL (2020), Justice Needs and Satisfaction Survey In Ethiopia].

In Oromia, customary courts are defined as judicial or social institutions recognised under the provisions of a recently enacted proclamation [see Megeleta Oromia, Proclamation No. 240/2021,  A Proclamation to Provide for the Establishment and Recognition of Oromia Region Customary Courts, entered into force 17 July 2021]. These courts adjudicate disputes based on customary laws, with a focus on preserving social cohesion and maintaining harmony within the community. As of July 2023, there are approximately 6,250 first instance customary courts serving communities in over 6,350 localities in the Oromia regional state. 

The impact assessment 

At the hand of a qualitative methodological approach and through the framework of people-centred justice, the legal impact assessment of customary courts in the Oromia regional states responds to the central research question: in what way do customary courts enhance scalable justice delivery in Ethiopia at the community level?

Supported by interview data collected by the Oromia Legal Training and Research Institute, the assessment evaluates and analyses the critical success factors that contribute to the effective delivery of justice through people-centred mechanisms, focusing on the courts’ effectiveness and the quality of the outcomes achieved. Included is also a review of the courts’ adherence to gender sensitivity and human rights.

Additionally, the assessment provides a discussion on factors relevant to the scaling of customary courts as a means to improve justice delivery at the community level. This section outlines challenges and benefits of standardisation in the Ethiopian context and provides insights into current and possibly new financial models of the courts.  

The assessment is guided by principles from the national Model Law and the Oromia Regional Customary Courts Proclamation, which establish foundational criteria for recognising and operationalising customary courts. These principles include:

• Accessibility – Customary courts must ensure both geographic and procedural accessibility, making justice available to all community members.
• Complementarity – Customary justice mechanisms should function as supplementary systems that enhance, rather than replace, the formal judicial process.
• Human Rights Compliance – The recognition and operation of customary courts must align with constitutional and human rights standards, ensuring that justice processes uphold fundamental rights.
• Do-No-Harm – Customary courts should preserve the cultural integrity of justice mechanisms, allowing them to operate without compromising traditional values and practices.

These principles serve as benchmarks for assessing the effectiveness and legitimacy of Oromia customary courts within the broader justice system.