Getnet Asnakech
European Joint Doctorate on Law and Development (EDoLaD) Tilburg University Tilburg The Netherlands.
School of Law, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Fam Court Rev. 2022 Apr;60(2):198-206. doi: 10.1111/fcre.12637. Epub 2022 Mar 9.
This article discusses the impact of pandemic restrictions on the family court system in Ethiopia. As lack of technological infrastructure made shifting to online services impossible, court services remained in-person. Public health measures required a drastic reduction in case hearings in order to allow social distancing. Both federal and regional state courts were partially closed from early March 2020 to end of September 2020 and only entertained cases of "urgent" nature that affected life, liberty, and public safety. The article focuses on strategies adopted by family courts in Amhara Regional State with respect to its impacts on litigating parties in such courts. It argues partial closure of court services disrupted access to justice in family law cases and increased vulnerability of women and children. This article proposes alternative strategies other than partial closure of court services.
本文探讨了疫情限制措施对埃塞俄比亚家庭法院系统的影响。由于缺乏技术基础设施，无法转向在线服务，法院服务仍为面对面形式。公共卫生措施要求大幅减少案件听证会，以实现社交距离。从2020年3月初到2020年9月底，联邦和地区州法院均部分关闭，只受理影响生命、自由和公共安全的“紧急”性质案件。本文重点关注阿姆哈拉州家庭法院针对此类法院对诉讼当事人的影响所采取的策略。文章认为，法院服务的部分关闭扰乱了家庭法案件的司法救助，并增加了妇女和儿童的脆弱性。本文提出了除法院服务部分关闭之外的替代策略。
