ሕግ ማርቀቅ አንዱ እና ዋነኛው የሕግ ሙያ ዘርፍ ነው፡፡ ሕግ ማውጣት የሚያስፈልግበት ዋና ዓላማ የመንግስትን ፖሊሲ ለማስፈፀም ነው፡፡ በዚህም የተነሳ ሕግ የፖሊሲ ማስፈፀሚያ ተደርጎም ይወሰዳል፡፡ የሕግ አረቃቅ ላይ ሊወሰድ የሚገባው ጥንቃቄ እና የአረቃቅ ሂደቱ ሕጉ ከፀደቀ በኋላ የሚኖረው አተገባበር ላይ ቀጥተኛ የሆነ ተፅእኖ ያለው መሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ የሕግ አረቃቀቅ በኢትዮጵያ ወጥነት የሚጎድለው፤ ትኩረት የሚሻ እና በሕግ አግባብ ሊመራ የሚገባ ዘርፍ ነው፡፡አሁን ላይ ይህ ዘርፍ በአገር አቀፍ ደረጃ የሚመራበት አንድ ወጥ የሆነ የሕግ ማዕቀፍ የሌለውም ዘርፍ ነው፡፡ ዘርፉ በዚህ አግባብ የሚመራበት የሕግ ማዕቀፍ አለማግኘቱ በሕጎች አረቃቀቅ ጥረት፤ ወጥነት፤ መናበብ፤ እና አፈፃፀም ላይ የራሱ የሆነን አሉታዊ ተፅእኖ እንዳሳደረ ይታመናል፡፡

Codification was predominantly regarded as a radical reform in form and substance and ‘reform’ is one of the core features of continental European codification that Weiss has identified. The element of ‘reform’ is concerned with whether or not codification changes the form and substance of existing laws. By examining the five historical codifications, Weiss demonstrates that codification is always a combination of change in form and change in substance.

COMPLETENESS

A historical and comparative study of continental European codification reveals that codification aims at being complete. Although ‘completeness’ has several implications in different literature, Weiss has identified three sub-elements of completeness in the sense of (a) exclusive, gap-less, and comprehensive as the second core feature of continental European codification. In this article each of these elements will be briefly discussed, followed by the analysis of the Ethiopian civil code. 

Modernization relies on law as the means of transformation. In these great processes of transformation, day after day, many more demands for new legislation have been proposed as a reaction to different social, political, economic and environmental situations which seemingly develop independently or deliberately. Governments need effective laws to govern these transformation processes by which they achieve their political objectives and public policies. Such needs may originate from different sources such as different ministries, a commission of inquiry, politicians, pressure groups, or sometimes from donors.

Since posting this a few days ago my attention was brought to a Comment that was posted on Facebook. Since I have deactivated my account, the editor of the website copied and sent me the Comment. The Comment is by Abadir Ibrahim who wrote:

Looking for a file in my computer, I stumbled upon this that I wrote a year or so ago, in relation to a debate/conversation that I was having with friends on facebook. Now I said why not and posted it here.

In the previous post, I argued that legal form cannot and should not be used to allocate governmental powers and responsibilities between the federal government on the one hand and constituent units of the federation, i.e., regional states, on the other. On such basis I argued that criminal law as a form of law cannot be said to belong to the federal or regional level of government. Hence, I have cautioned against the literal and independent reading of article 55(5) of the constitution which says that the House of Peoples’ Representatives shall enact a criminal code and regional states shall enact criminal law on matters not covered by the federal criminal legislation.

Before considering the subject matter of this article, a brief explanation of the history of Ethiopian Codes and constitutional development is helpful because it focuses attention on the key issues that I would like to raise. The Ethiopian legal system constitutes the Constitution, international treaties, codified laws, and statues as a primary source of law. This essay, however, limits itself to codified laws and primary legislation.

SYSTEM

System is commonly regarded as the main characteristics of modern codification and Weiss has identified ‘system’ as a third core feature of continental European codification. The goal of capturing the substance of the law in the form of comprehensive and systematic code is one actively pursued in different countries. A code collects and regulates different fields of law into one organized system.

SIMPLICITY

Simplicity is the last core feature of continental European codification that Weiss has identified. While the element of a gap-less code was addressed to the judiciary, and the systematic element spoke to legal scholars, the element of simplicity is referred to the citizen. Simplicity does not refer only to the technicality of drafting laws.