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224 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
of the other examples, this could not be checked, but it does fit with
another common belief that woreda judges, because they are less experienced,
younger, and more susceptible to executive interference, are
among the most problematic. Earlier studies did report that local
(woreda) administrators seemed to regard judges as virtual executive staff
(World Bank 2004a; NJI 2008).
If civil cases are the most susceptible to corruption, the forms taken
do not appear to be terribly complicated. Many of the possible corruption
sites listed in table 5.4 seem unnecessary in the Ethiopian context
where, if corruption occurs, it is most likely to be the purchase of a
judgment or some finagling of the execution process (where the federal
courts admit there are still problems but largely with nonjudicial
experts and enforcement agents, including those running auctions).
Two former sites—staff’s misplacement of files and excessive and
lengthy adjournments—have become less feasible because of new judicial
policies, but it still may be possible for staff to collect fees for
performing other regular duties. 23
Compared with other countries within and outside the region, where
informants could state the price for a judgment at different levels, it
appears that, whatever its incidence, corruption in the civil justice process
is less common in Ethiopia. In some sense, this is also the bad news
because sporadic corruption is more difficult to combat than the more
systemic and systematic type. The courts, having introduced practices to
combat the more institutionalized vices, are now faced with combating
corruption as they would ordinary, unorganized criminal actions—and
doing so without reversing their simultaneous efforts to make judges
more independent and less fearful of political interventions.
Conclusions on Justice Sector Corruption in Ethiopia
Compared with other regional and nonregional examples (the Latin
American countries cited previously for comparison), Ethiopia’s justice
sector, if not corruption-free, is hardly a worst-case scenario. In terms of
frequency, police may be the worst offenders, but we are largely talking
about relatively petty corruption perpetrated by individuals in response
to monetary offers, ties of friendship or kinship, or occasionally political
influence (in cases where an ally or enemy of political authorities is
involved). 24 Some of the most egregious practices identified in the most
corrupt countries (for example, police involvement in criminal activities,
their availability as thugs-for-hire, or their regular receipt of protection