Restoring Public’s Trust on Justice System will be Priority: New Supreme Court President

Addis Ababa  October 01/2018 The newly assigned Federal Supreme Court President, Meaza Ashenafi, said that restoring confidence of the public in the justice system will be a priority, since winning the public’s trust is important in the sector. “My priority as president of the Federal Supreme Court will be restoring the confidence of the public in the justice system,” Meaza, the first female Court President told ENA after swearing in before parliament. Following the resignation of former President of Federal Supreme Court, Dagne Melaku and his deputy Tsegaye Asimamaw, the House of People’s Representatives today has unanimously elected Meaza Ashenafi and Solomon Areda as President and Vice-President of the Court. In an exclusive interview with ENA, Meaza said winning public trust and confidence on the justice sector will be of greater importance for maintaining fair and independent justice during her presidency in the office. “I believe that the priority of my office will be restoring the confidence of the public in the justice sector because so far this has been a very challenging and very sticky area,” Meaza said. Stating that a committee has already established to examine how the justice system can best be reformed, Meaza said “we will closely collaborate with the committee regarding the legal reform”. “I am sure there are many areas that need capacity building”, she said and added that after examining the areas, the office will work with the government and development partners to fill the gap. Solomon Areda, Federal Supreme Court Vice-President agrees on the need to prioritize and work to restore public trust. “Hopefully in the coming years we will work to have the confidence of the society,” he said affirming that different researches will be conducted and strategies devised to maintain public trust. One of the areas that need to be changed in order to win the public’s trust and needs priority is improving the quality of services. “The focus areas of the courts is that there are international standards to improve the quality of services of the courts and I think the priority is to make the Ethiopian courts efficient, effective and accessible to the people,” he said. Mentioning that Ethiopia has good laws that meet all requirements of the international standard, the new Vice-President noted “the problem or the gap is on the implementation of these laws.” “I think one of our immediate technical interventions is towards working as to how to implement the principles of the Ethiopian constitution and other laws,” Solomon stressed. Today’s change in the leadership is part of the initiative that the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been working to bring change in the justice system. The assignment brings a woman president to the leadership of the Federal Supreme Court for the first time. The Abiy administration has been assigning women to higher positions including head of half of the government ministries and president of the country. Meaza described those appointments that display Ethiopia’s new dynamism in the practicality of gender parity as a “pioneering act” and her assignment as a consecutive step. “My appointment today is another step towards that pioneering act of the government. I believe we will be the role models for girls in school and young women, and our role will inspire them,” she articulated.