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Justice Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 217
Table 5.4 (continued)
Enforcement of judgment
Source: Author.
Potential forms of corruption
• Lawyers solicit money from clients to bribe any of
actors, but they pocket the funds.
• Lawyers or parties offer or agree to pay to affect decisions
on licenses to appeal and appellate judgments.
• Political authorities or higher judicial leaders direct
whether and how enforcement will be effected.
• Parties offer or agree to pay to arrange early release or
nonincarceration. Same with any payment of damages.
All of these examples were mentioned in interviews with police,
the ethics and anticorruption commissions, and outside observers. Unfortu
nately, it was impossible to get data from any agency to determine how
frequently these complaints were made, let alone how often they were
true. Many of the resulting problems (failure of witnesses or defendant to
appear, problems with evidence) could also be attributed to overwork,
incompetence, or inadequate logistical support (for example, vehicles,
address directories, and so on). Aside from simple monetary corruption
(bribes), it was mentioned that relationships or political pressures (often
from a local authority) could also be at fault. This is corruption but of a
different kind.
Interestingly, no one expressed a belief that higher-level political corruption
was a frequent explanation—and all seemed to believe that, in
most cases, the monetary values involved were relatively small. This is one
reason the FEACC prefers to send these cases back to the police for
investigation and possibly for disciplinary action short of dismissal. The
FEACC does its own investigation only when high police officials are
involved or when the police take too long to do it themselves. Police
records, to the extent they exist, did not allow for a winnowing out of
corruption cases as opposed to other types of complaints (for example,
abusive treatment, insubordination, excessive force, or shirking of duty).
Prosecutors. A national commission established to review problems of
criminal justice has developed a long list of shortcomings related to prosecutorial
performance. As with the police, some of these could involve
corruption, but others may be overwork, incompetence, or inefficient
work procedures. The anticorruption commissions had received relatively