All criminal cases do not lead to either conviction or acquittal after completion of trial. Midway, the cases may be withdrawn from the records of the criminal courts. In Ethiopia, power to withdraw criminal charges for the sake of public interest is absolutely vested in the hand of Attorney General (AG). Unfortunately, the Ethiopian laws are failed to define and lists some illustrations what constitutes public interest. In such a case, the AG has become lynch pin in disposal of cases otherwise than on merits. Thus, such power of the AG for withdrawal of criminal charges from prosecution for the sake of public interest has become a controversial topic in the criminal proceedings and in fact it is a peculiar power entrusted to the AG. The main objective of the article is to examine the existing normative frameworks of Ethiopian criminal justice system that regulating withdrawal of criminal charges for the sake of public interest. In order to achieve the intended aims, this article has employed doctrinal legal research on which legal analysis of the principal legislations was the focal point. In so doing, the study has identified a lot of legal vacuums. Accordingly, the study found absence of clear and comprehensive definition of the phrase public interest; lack of legal way outs for consideration of views and concerns of victims of crimes; absence of review mechanism in a case where the AG withdraw criminal charges arbitrary; lack of time limitation for continuation of criminal charges after withdrawal and empowering exclusive mandate and wide discretionary power to AG in withdrawing criminal charges alone are the main ones. Amongst others, it is recommended that the Ethiopian law maker should amend and enact a law governing withdrawal of criminal charges under the guise of public interest.
| Published in | Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11 |
| Page(s) | 80-86 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Withdrawal of Criminal Charges, Public Interest, Attorney General (AG), Discretionary Power
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APA Style
Diriba Adugna Tulu. (2021). Withdrawal of Criminal Charges for the Sake of Public Interest in Ethiopia: Exploring Legal Gaps and Way Forward. Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(4), 80-86. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11
ACS Style
Diriba Adugna Tulu. Withdrawal of Criminal Charges for the Sake of Public Interest in Ethiopia: Exploring Legal Gaps and Way Forward. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2021, 9(4), 80-86. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11
AMA Style
Diriba Adugna Tulu. Withdrawal of Criminal Charges for the Sake of Public Interest in Ethiopia: Exploring Legal Gaps and Way Forward. Humanit Soc Sci. 2021;9(4):80-86. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11,
author = {Diriba Adugna Tulu},
title = {Withdrawal of Criminal Charges for the Sake of Public Interest in Ethiopia: Exploring Legal Gaps and Way Forward},
journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
volume = {9},
number = {4},
pages = {80-86},
doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20210904.11},
abstract = {All criminal cases do not lead to either conviction or acquittal after completion of trial. Midway, the cases may be withdrawn from the records of the criminal courts. In Ethiopia, power to withdraw criminal charges for the sake of public interest is absolutely vested in the hand of Attorney General (AG). Unfortunately, the Ethiopian laws are failed to define and lists some illustrations what constitutes public interest. In such a case, the AG has become lynch pin in disposal of cases otherwise than on merits. Thus, such power of the AG for withdrawal of criminal charges from prosecution for the sake of public interest has become a controversial topic in the criminal proceedings and in fact it is a peculiar power entrusted to the AG. The main objective of the article is to examine the existing normative frameworks of Ethiopian criminal justice system that regulating withdrawal of criminal charges for the sake of public interest. In order to achieve the intended aims, this article has employed doctrinal legal research on which legal analysis of the principal legislations was the focal point. In so doing, the study has identified a lot of legal vacuums. Accordingly, the study found absence of clear and comprehensive definition of the phrase public interest; lack of legal way outs for consideration of views and concerns of victims of crimes; absence of review mechanism in a case where the AG withdraw criminal charges arbitrary; lack of time limitation for continuation of criminal charges after withdrawal and empowering exclusive mandate and wide discretionary power to AG in withdrawing criminal charges alone are the main ones. Amongst others, it is recommended that the Ethiopian law maker should amend and enact a law governing withdrawal of criminal charges under the guise of public interest.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Withdrawal of Criminal Charges for the Sake of Public Interest in Ethiopia: Exploring Legal Gaps and Way Forward AU - Diriba Adugna Tulu Y1 - 2021/07/13 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11 DO - 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11 T2 - Humanities and Social Sciences JF - Humanities and Social Sciences JO - Humanities and Social Sciences SP - 80 EP - 86 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8184 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.11 AB - All criminal cases do not lead to either conviction or acquittal after completion of trial. Midway, the cases may be withdrawn from the records of the criminal courts. In Ethiopia, power to withdraw criminal charges for the sake of public interest is absolutely vested in the hand of Attorney General (AG). Unfortunately, the Ethiopian laws are failed to define and lists some illustrations what constitutes public interest. In such a case, the AG has become lynch pin in disposal of cases otherwise than on merits. Thus, such power of the AG for withdrawal of criminal charges from prosecution for the sake of public interest has become a controversial topic in the criminal proceedings and in fact it is a peculiar power entrusted to the AG. The main objective of the article is to examine the existing normative frameworks of Ethiopian criminal justice system that regulating withdrawal of criminal charges for the sake of public interest. In order to achieve the intended aims, this article has employed doctrinal legal research on which legal analysis of the principal legislations was the focal point. In so doing, the study has identified a lot of legal vacuums. Accordingly, the study found absence of clear and comprehensive definition of the phrase public interest; lack of legal way outs for consideration of views and concerns of victims of crimes; absence of review mechanism in a case where the AG withdraw criminal charges arbitrary; lack of time limitation for continuation of criminal charges after withdrawal and empowering exclusive mandate and wide discretionary power to AG in withdrawing criminal charges alone are the main ones. Amongst others, it is recommended that the Ethiopian law maker should amend and enact a law governing withdrawal of criminal charges under the guise of public interest. VL - 9 IS - 4 ER -
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