Ethiopia
Legal problems are omnipresent in the everyday lives of Ethiopians. Approximately 40% of the population have experienced one or more serious and difficult to resolve legal problems in the past four years. That is roughly 7.4 million impactful legal problems per year. For perspective, a number this high equals 2.5 times the number of registered malaria cases per year in Ethiopia.
Key Highlights
3
data reports launched
3
stakeholder dialogues in the Justice Transformation Process
MoU with Ethiopia’s former Office of the Federal Attorney General, currently the Federal Ministry of Justice
Key Publications
Ethiopia is anchoring a conducive environment for innovative ‘game-changing’ solutions. The aim is to increase resolution rates with a national model law in support of community justice delivery, which will be accompanied by the setting of minimum standards to guide implementation. The national budget has been allocated for three years in support of people-centred justice programming.
HiiL has been involved in Ethiopia since 2019. Between 2019 and 2020, HiiL partnered with Ethiopia’s former Office of the Federal Attorney General (currently the Federal Ministry of Justice) and the Federal Justice and Legal Research and Training Institute (today known as the Federal Justice and Law Institute, FJLI) to conduct the country’s first nationwide survey of people’s justice needs. More than 5,400 adults took part in the Justice Needs & Satisfaction (JNS) study. A second JNS, conducted in partnership with UNHCR, focused on the justice needs of refugees and host communities in the Somali and Tigray regions.
Following the JNS, a Justice Transformation process was initiated in Ethiopia to advance and support national efforts that would systematically realise people-centred justice. The programming sought to place justice as a priority on Ethiopia’s path towards peace and prosperity.
“If our societies are to reduce violence, tackle corruption, protect the environment, address inequality and repair broken social contracts, they will need revamped justice systems that respond effectively – and cost-effectively – to people’s needs.”
In the stakeholder dialogues, informed by the 2020 JNS data findings, Ethiopia’s justice leaders recognised that strengthening community justice and connecting it better to the formal justice sector could potentially increase the resolution and prevention of disputes for certain problem categories. To tackle this design challenge, a diverse group of stakeholders including government and actual justice users came together in a collaborative design process taking place across four sessions from July to October 2023. The result was a designed solution of an innovative plan to improve and scale community justice linked to the formal justice system, so called “Community Justice Centers” (CJCs). CJCs aim to bridge the justice gap by empowering people to prevent and resolve their everyday justice problems within their communities. Rather than create a parallel or competing service, the CJC model integrates into the existing justice chain, and improves access to existing mechanisms enhancing the capacity of existing local justice actors to deliver people-centred outcomes.
In 2024, HiiL started working in three regions in Ethiopia (Afar, Sidama and Addis Ababa) in partnership with the federal government through the Ministry of Justice. We established a Community Justice Centre pilot programme in each of these regions. Destiny Ethiopia assisting as a facilitation and convening partner. The pilot will be handed over to the MoJ, which has shown a high level of commitment to the project, in August 2025.
Projects in Ethiopia
Community Justice Centers in Ethiopia
During a series of stakeholder dialogues, informed by the findings from the 2020 Justice Needs and Satisfaction survey, Ethiopia’s justice leaders recognised land and family as two of the most frequent and pressing justice problems in the country. To resolve those problems, they decided to develop community justice as a service delivery model. Those priorities formed the foundations of the Justice Innovation Lab (JIL) in Ethiopia, which ran from November 2023 until April 2024.
The Ethiopian Land Justice Guidelines
Justice guidelines can help with integrating and standardising best practices and are meant to support justice practitioners in their daily work. In the case of customary courts, the practitioners are primarily community elders (shimagillé), but also other judges, mediators, police, lawyers and other professionals who directly engage with people around land justice problems may benefit from the recommendations in these guidelines.
Justice Needs & Satisfaction in Ethiopia
How many divorces, housing disputes or employment disagreements take place in everyday life in Ethiopia? Who are the people who need justice and protection by the law? What do they do to resolve their legal problems? What works in resolving problems? To answer these questions, a Justice Needs and Satisfaction Survey was conducted in Ethiopia.
Justice Needs and Satisfaction of Refugees and Host Communities in Ethiopia
Access to justice is key to the protection and empowerment of refugees. Too often, however, governments and development organisations lack the knowledge and data to effectively support the justice needs of refugees and their host communities. To identify their legal problems in Ethiopia and how to design effective justice services in response, UNHCR asked HiiL to conduct a Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) Survey tailored to the day-to-day justice experiences of refugees and the communities that host them.
Justice Transformation Process
The Justice Transformation process brings a diverse group of justice leaders together to review the data findings and develop local solutions to prevent or resolve the legal problems that matter most to people. Building and maintaining the enabling environment for innovative solutions and potential gamechangers is particularly needed for the transformation towards people-centred justice. Stakeholder dialogues are an important first step in that direction.
Partners
Contact person
Ahmed Hamza Tijani
Senior Programme Manager KENU
Further reading
Delivering Community Justice Services in Ethiopia
Aligned with its transformational justice plan, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Justice, in partnership with HiiL, achieved two pivotal milestones this week, advancing community justice delivery to build a more responsive, people-centred system.
Ethiopia’s journey towards people-centred justice
Ethiopia is integrating traditional and modern justice systems through Community Justice Centres (CJCs), enhancing local dispute resolution. Discover how this data-driven reform aims to make justice more accessible, inclusive, and scalable.
New report by UNHCR and HiiL details the justice needs of refugees and host communities in Ethiopia
On 18 May, HiiL, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Government of Ethiopia announced results of its Justice Needs and Satisfaction survey of refugees and host communities.
The study articulates findings and offers recommendations for ensuring equal access to justice for refugees and host communities. More than 2,000 respondents from the Somali and Tigray Regions of Ethiopia participated in the survey which focused on their justice experiences and how they work to resolve the legal problems they encounter.
Learn about our research
