The data raise questions as to reliability:
The provenance of these cases in the courts is unclear. It is observed that all institutions lack a centralized data storage and management system. The courts are in the process of developing a database for tracking cases through both regular and Sharia courts. For the purposes of this research no data were available for the Sharia courts. There is further reported to be no coordination between institutions to review data and consistency in collection and reporting. Even within institutions, there is inconsistency in the way in which separate units collect data. There is need for further research across all institutions as to how data are generated, stored and communicated.
As elsewhere the data show civil cases dominate the courts, but only just disposing in round figures: 4,500 civil v 4000 criminal cases.
POLICE
The police Annual Report provides insight into the data police collect and how they track cases – see table below (the original is in Amharic and this is an informal translation).
Cases of GBV for instance are hard to quantify since police appear to count these along with ‘crimes against children’. Also the data collected as presented here (ignoring the quality of the translation) are confusing. For instance, are cases ‘transferred from 2012’ to be added to ‘total compliant submitted only in 2013’, so that the ‘live’ cases total: 340? The pattern of the data is not immediately evident.
Overreliance is not placed on 16 cases sent to the OAG (compared with the 27 recorded in the data provided) as the report covers a 9 month period only, but, taken together, they raise further questions over the reliability to be placed on the figures cited.
2013 ,9 month report
| Type of case | Sent to AG | Through mediation | Withdrawn | under investigation | Transferred from 2012 | closed | total compliant submitted only in 2013 |
| Severe Tactical / Criminal Investigation | 85 | 9 | 15 | 91 | 140 | 94 | 200 |
| Crimes against women and children | 16 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 67 | 23 | 65 |
| traffic | 42 | 111 | 17 | 91 | 115 | 153 | 261 |
| caught on scene | 1 | 94 | 94 | ||||
| Total | 535 | 671 | 455 | 458 | 1206 | 2317 | |
OAG: Public prosecutors filed 779 charges in the course of the year. It is unclear then from where the 3000 criminal cases in the Woreda and Zonal Courts come.
Prosecutors in Harari attained a very high conviction rate at close to 93% (although the data from the courts points to a slightly lower conviction rate).
The AR 2013 observes that courts, police, and prosecutors are not working together in reopening cases that have been closed and the institutions do not respond as required. The report further complains of the ‘non-availability’ of witnesses and defendants.
COURTS: There was no Annual Report available.
The case data show the Woreda courts disposing of case numbers that appear to exceed the number registered. The Zonal courts state the number of cases carried forward at year’s end are 203, when the figures amount to 300.
Conviction rates are high in both courts: 71% in the Woreda Courts and 88% in the Zonal courts. Data are not available as to the percentage of defendants represented in these courts, though the data from LASPs below are gloomy. Juvenile cases are low in both courts (6% in the RHC and 2% in RFIC).
LASPs: the only data available are the 98 new cases recorded by the OPD. No NGO is operating and funding in support of Haramaya Law Clinic has since ended (which previously took a leading role in providing legal services to indigent persons). The inference is that many of the 379 sentenced prisoners in the prisons will have been unrepresented at trial.
PRISONS: the single regional prison has a stated capacity of 1000. The number of prisoners held on a given day in 2013 was given as 559 (5% women). The occupancy rate is 56%. Less than half of prisoners were unsentenced (on remand).
No data were available as to the number of sentenced prisoners serving terms of less than 3 years. The prison appeared to hold 0 persons under 18.
COURTS
Total disposed cases in First Instance Courts (2825) exceeds the total cases registered (pending 445 + new 2058)
Total pending cases in Zonal Courts (203): data mismatch with previous data (pending + new – disposed) totals: 300
LASP
Previously, LASPs in East Hararghe Zones and Harari Region were managed by Haramaya University College of Law (and funded by USAID and EU). Project funding ended in the course of the past two years and Haremaya University has supported the LASPs.
ULC
The ULCs carry a significant caseload. However, due to interruptions caused by the pandemic, high staff turnover and other factors, the centres have not compiled reports for the past two years nor maintained data sets.
CIVIL COURTS
RHC cases pending end year data mismatch: calculation of total civil pending + total new – disposed = 381
FIC cases pending end year data mismatch: calculation as above = 1475