Language Law and Policy of the Federal Government of Ethiopia: Implications for Fair Trial and the Rights of Non-Amharic Language Speakers Accused
Absztrakt :
Ethiopia is a multilingual country with a federal form of state structure.
The 1995 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
(FDRE Constitution) gave equal recognition for all Ethiopian languages,
but has chosen Amharic to become the working language of the Federal
Government. In order to accommodate the needs of non-Amharic speakers
in the provision of public services, the Constitution and other laws such as
the Criminal Procedure Code, require the use of interpreters. Particularly in
criminal proceedings, non-Amharic speakers are entitled to be assisted with
a ‘qualified’ interpreter to meaningfully participate in the cases. In practice,
it is observed that accused people who do not speak the working language of
the federal government are unable to effectively understand or get prompt
and detailed information regarding the nature and effect of the case brought
against them. Even if they know the case, they are not able to effectively
explain their defences to the court or associated bodies, and thereby defend
their rights. This study reveals that non-Amharic speakers are not effectively
served according to the legal standards. This problem subsists mainly due to
the absence or limited number of interpreters, as well as the use of untrained
interpreters. Despite some efforts to address the problem, the federal
government has not yet laid down any formal mechanism by which people
with limited and/or no Amharic language proficiency are properly served
in criminal proceedings both before and during trial. This study proposes
the federal government to establish court interpreter training institutions
and to standardise court interpretation by allocating the necessary budget;
lay down a formal mechanism such as enacting detailed laws and working
manuals for assigning interpreters; providing other local languages the status
of working language; consulting interpretation technologies and working in
collaboration with different stakeholders.