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Justice Delay Leads to Justice Denial: Ethiopian Criminal Justice System Perspective

Received: 5 May 2022    Accepted: 31 May 2022    Published: 9 June 2022
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Abstract

The implications of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974's time limits on the running of the Federal justice system have sparked heated controversy. Many people praise the Act as a necessary step toward ending court delays, congestion, and backlogs, as well as the Act's goals of lowering crime and the risk of recidivism. Others say that unless appropriate funding is provided for expanded court services to achieve the quick trial targets, they would exacerbate existing court difficulties. The discussions regarding state provisions for quick trials are similar. There are no simple solutions to complex situations, as is often the case. The proverbial saying “justice delayed is justice denied” is often quoted by lawyers not only in the Ethiopian’s but also in other countries to demand speedy disposition of criminal cases. The negative repercussion of this saying, however, is that some individuals give priority premium to speed rather than justice. Some use the saying to justify the pace of the trial that contravenes the notion of fairness. On the other hand, some individuals equate speed with undue haste offends the due process rights of accused persons. One thing is for sure; the word “speedy” should never be divorced from the word justice. For Speedy justice means that justice must be rendered efficiently. The following points have been discovered through the use of qualitative and doctrinal research methods in this study. Despite the fact that law enforcement personnel, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges at all levels of the criminal justice system have discussed the problem of quick trials, no consensus has emerged. The study has explored, a literature review primarily based on law journals, books, and periodic publications and followed by referring constitutional and statutory provisions as well as court rules and decisions pertaining to quick trials. For the purpose of clarity, some controversial cases are examined. The case was happening in 2002,” Siye Abreha” Vs Public Prosecutor” in this legal proceedings, the defendant was charged in corruption crime and received five years sentences from the legitimate court whereas he was actually served six years imprisonment whilst he was under the trail. Had it not been delay of justice, he would not have been spent two years and eight months beyond the actual sentences rendered by federal Courts and its parole.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19
Page(s) 211-216
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), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Speedy, Delay, Denial, Trail, Justice and Controversies

References
[1] Atty. Severino H. Gana, Jr, Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: Ensuring Efficient and Speedy Criminal Trials in the Philippines: http//www.jgu.edu.in/sites/default/files/Jayanthkrishaana access 8/28/2017 5.05 pm
[2] Article 20 (1) of the FDRE, Constitution 1995.
[3] Article 20 (3) of the FDRE, Constitution 1995.
[4] Art. 14 of International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
[5] Art. 6, 10, 17 of International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
[6] http://Law.justia.com/constitution/US/Amendment-06/access 4/26/2022 at 8:37a.m.
[7] Article 19 (4) of the FDRE, Constitution 1995.
[8] How Long Can A Criminal Case Be Delayed? (gddlaw.com), access 4/29/2022 at 12:18 p.m.
[9] https://unafei.or.jp/publications/pdf/RS_No95/No95VE_Gana2.pdf access 4/29/2022 at 15:38 p.m.
[10] Jonathan Grossman (2014), Speedy Trial and the Statute of Limitations.
[11] Imperial Ethiopian Government Proclamation No. 185 OF 1961 Criminal Procedure Code of Ethiopia Published by authority of the Ministry of Pen Addis Ababa.
[12] Proclamation No. 652/2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
[13] Proclamation No. 1176/2020 Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism Crimes Proclamation.
[14] THOMAS (1989), Feltes Causes for Delays In The Criminal Justice System.
[15] Federal Courts, Annual Report, 2020/21.
[16] SIYE ABRAHA - Encyclopedia Information (webot.org).
[17] Art. 202 of Proclamation No. 414/2004, the Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic Of Ethiopia.
[18] Proclamation No. 239/2001, Anti-Corruption Special Procedure and Rules of Evidence (Amendment).
[19] Proclamation No. 236/2001 a Proclamation to Provide for Special Procedure and Rules of Evidence on Anti-Corruption.
[20] Proclamation No. 882/2015, the Revised Anti-Corruption Special Procedure and Rules of Evidence (Amendment).
[21] Art. 5 of Proclamation No. 414/2004, the Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic Of Ethiopia.
[22] Article 22 of the FDRE, Constitution 1995.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sefiew Ayenew Demle. (2022). Justice Delay Leads to Justice Denial: Ethiopian Criminal Justice System Perspective. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(2), 211-216. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19

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    ACS Style

    Sefiew Ayenew Demle. Justice Delay Leads to Justice Denial: Ethiopian Criminal Justice System Perspective. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(2), 211-216. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19

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    AMA Style

    Sefiew Ayenew Demle. Justice Delay Leads to Justice Denial: Ethiopian Criminal Justice System Perspective. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(2):211-216. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19,
      author = {Sefiew Ayenew Demle},
      title = {Justice Delay Leads to Justice Denial: Ethiopian Criminal Justice System Perspective},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {211-216},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220502.19},
      abstract = {The implications of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974's time limits on the running of the Federal justice system have sparked heated controversy. Many people praise the Act as a necessary step toward ending court delays, congestion, and backlogs, as well as the Act's goals of lowering crime and the risk of recidivism. Others say that unless appropriate funding is provided for expanded court services to achieve the quick trial targets, they would exacerbate existing court difficulties. The discussions regarding state provisions for quick trials are similar. There are no simple solutions to complex situations, as is often the case. The proverbial saying “justice delayed is justice denied” is often quoted by lawyers not only in the Ethiopian’s but also in other countries to demand speedy disposition of criminal cases. The negative repercussion of this saying, however, is that some individuals give priority premium to speed rather than justice. Some use the saying to justify the pace of the trial that contravenes the notion of fairness. On the other hand, some individuals equate speed with undue haste offends the due process rights of accused persons. One thing is for sure; the word “speedy” should never be divorced from the word justice. For Speedy justice means that justice must be rendered efficiently. The following points have been discovered through the use of qualitative and doctrinal research methods in this study. Despite the fact that law enforcement personnel, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges at all levels of the criminal justice system have discussed the problem of quick trials, no consensus has emerged. The study has explored, a literature review primarily based on law journals, books, and periodic publications and followed by referring constitutional and statutory provisions as well as court rules and decisions pertaining to quick trials. For the purpose of clarity, some controversial cases are examined. The case was happening in 2002,” Siye Abreha” Vs Public Prosecutor” in this legal proceedings, the defendant was charged in corruption crime and received five years sentences from the legitimate court whereas he was actually served six years imprisonment whilst he was under the trail. Had it not been delay of justice, he would not have been spent two years and eight months beyond the actual sentences rendered by federal Courts and its parole.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Crime Intelligence, Ethiopian Police University, Sendafa, Ethiopia

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