Countries around the world have been going through unusual socioeconomic and political experiences due to the outbreak of COVID-19. As the pandemic forced them to come up with restrictions and safety measures, the law enforcement still needs to reconsider some issues that need to be dealt with in the future.
Fasika Gebeyehu, a lawyer, has been working in the law sector for over the past nine years. The Ethiopian Herald has held an interview with her regarding the situation of the pandemic and measures that have been taken in light of legal perspectives. She also discussed how government and citizens should handle the pandemic as well as how the nation could go about with planning the future justice system after winning the battle against COVID-19.
Herald: Would you tell us about yourself briefly?
Fasica: I am Fasika Gebeyehu. I studied law at Haromaya University. After graduation, I have worked in a government office. For the past seven years, I have been a lawyer.
Herald: How do you describe the profession of law in comparison with your school and professional experience?
Fasika: The theoretical and practical experience is different. You may have the theoretical knowledge but when you start to practice law as a professional, there is so much to learn and improve. You may learn the basic principles of law at law school but when you get the job, there is more to learn based on the context of the country’s legal system.
There are several issues on the legal and justice system that have been making it difficult to ensure citizens’ rights. Herald: How about the cases of the past two years? When the country embraced its voyage towards an overall reform, legal professionals have been entertaining ideas concerning whether the rule of law or order should be prioritized. What is your say on that? Fasika: In my view the rule of law should be our top priority because it holds most of the critical issues that we are dealing with.
Ethiopia is a developing country and as we are practicing democracy, it does not mean every issue will be addressed in one night just because it is in the law. Not only in the past two years, but also in the past several years, the country has gone through lots of unfortunate events.
In my view, there are many problems everywhere in the country and if we secure or maintain the rule of law,many of the issues will be addressed. Based on reality, we have so much to do while practicing democracy. Just because things are written in the law, it does not mean we could address all of our issues at once. It is a difficult task and we have to see the bottlenecks all the time and move on by improving the overall systems to ensuring the rule of law.
Herald: What do you say would be the cases that would challenge courts, lawyers, and the justice process in general?
Fasika: Based on my experience, the things that would challenge the overall justice system, courts, lawyers, and others who are involved in the system, are terrorism, political cases (related to people who would get arrested as political prisoners), human rights violations, and corruption. If we take the case of corruption, for instance, they have been treated as political issues.
The courts and even lawyers have been challenged by this issue because there have been many interruptions, (governmental or ghost elite powers) throughout the justice process in the past. For me, these are the things that challenge the justice system.
Herald: How do you assess the impact of the partial suspension of court activities on the justice system due to the pandemic?
Fasika: The courts have been partially closed since the COVID-19 entered the country. Of course, this will affect the courts, clients, the business sector, lawyers etc. in some way. When the pandemic is put under control and the courts get back to their services, there would be a large number of files and cases to deal with. This would challenge the justice system. It could be hard to manage all the files. Hence, a new mechanism is needed to deal with a large number of files when courts’ partial closure ends.
Herald: So what do you suggest should be done to tackle these challenges and maintain a better justice system after the courts return to their full operation?
Fasika: As we are being informed by the Federal Court President, Meaza Ashenafi, judges are working on cases that have been opened before the COVID-19. They are also releasing information on social media platforms such as telegram and Facebook about cases that have received verdicts. I believe this is a good start. Meanwhile, it is my view that preparatory task are mandatory based on the backlogs that the courts have. We need proactive strategies, schedules with improved systems supported by advanced technologies, and more human resources.
Court schedules are usually posted on noticeboards and many people may be on the lines when the courts are fully opened. That’s why I believe it is mandatory to see new technological options as per the capacity we have during the preparatory tasks. The court management and stakeholders also need to consider case management in order to handle the files that are already open. This could be the time to arrange the files based on their dates, urgency, simplicity, and type, or nature.
Herald: The country has been going through various state of emergencies within the past years and most of them were related to political issues. The current state of emergency is way too different as the main reason is the COVID-19 pandemic. What do you suggest on how the task force and public
would work together? And what is your view on the implementation so far?
Fasika: Article 93 of the constitution stated that state of emergency would become necessary when it is difficult to govern the country for several reasons such as situations of instability that would affect the constitution, times of natural disaster, and situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, responsible communication between the public and the task force is crucial.
The past state of emergencies mostly aimed at preventing the damages on infrastructures, industrial areas, private properties, and answering political as well as good governance issues. But the current state of emergency is all about overcoming the existential threat to humanity and maintaining a better future for generations. We are all in this together. The restrictions in the different state of emergencies are not the same. The one we are going through would have restrictions that prioritize the prevention of the virus’ spread. Our social life is different from other countries.
It’s not only the culture but our economic situation has also a huge impact on how we deal with the pandemic. One individual may greet one another several times whenever they meet within a short period of time. Thus, the restrictions in this state of emergency are strict. Both the task force and the public need to be aware of the seriousness of the situation and work jointly. Most of all, the public must be committed to respecting the restrictions in a responsible manner by considering that the restrictions are temporary and understanding that they do not violate human rights.
Speaking of the task forces who are working for the implementation of the state of emergency, I would say no matter how difficult the job is or the challenges, they must remain committed to not violate those rights that cannot be trespassed in any situations during any state of emergency as well as keep their own selves protected.
Herald: Thank you for your time.
Fasika: Thank you for having me.
The Ethiopian herald June 14,2020
BY HENOK TIBEBU
