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206 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
handle “minor” 11 crimes where a suspect has been immediately
apprehended. Because 80 percent of defendants in these “real-time
courts” (the name and the model are adopted from the French system)
plead guilty, conviction rates are high from the start. The other
20 percent are given time to organize their own defense. Because
they usually have to do this while in detention and without legal assistance,
it is no surprise that the overall conviction rate is 95 percent or
more. The real-time courts process high numbers of cases; in 2007/08,
the two judges operating in Addis Ababa resolved 2,500 cases each. As
their numbers increase (three more were added in Addis, and several
regions have also introduced them), conviction and final disposal rates
should also rise.
As the judiciary is aware, these courts do raise problems concerning
due process—the internationally recognized right to defense, and if one
cannot pay for a lawyer, the state’s provision of one. Obviously, such a
system has proven impossible to organize in Ethiopia, and the only indigent
defendants given state subsidized services are those facing very
serious charges (and capital offenses). A few more receive assistance
from specialized NGOs. Although the statement of some of those
interviewed—that these defendants are “all guilty anyway”—may be
true, fast-tracking does pose serious risks to the innocent suspect caught
in the system. Although defendants receive more leeway than prosecutors
regarding adjournments for witnesses’ failure to appear, this innovation
does have its downside in the potential for abuse. However, as the
judges also argue, the lack of subsidized defense is not limited to fasttrack
courts, and being judged and sentenced rapidly rather than waiting
in jail for months may have its advantages. 12
Staffing issues and initiatives. The prosecutors place much of the blame for
low conviction rates on poor police investigation. Inadequate numbers of
police (relative to judges and prosecutors) may be another problem, but
here, as with the other agencies, faster staffing increases are seen as risking
the addition of too many poorly trained officials.
All three agencies have training programs, although again the courts
are the most advanced. The centralized judicial training institute now
shares the terrain with a series of regional institutes. Amhara’s judicial
institute currently provides additional training to 700 law diploma holders
(a diploma is earned in two years of post-high school study) who will
subsequently be deployed as assistant judges or prosecutors and may
eventually be promoted to full professional status. Assuming the extra