Access to Justice for PWDs in Civil Proceedings before the Federal Courts of Ethiopia: The Law and Practice

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are among the most vulnerable groups to social, economic and political problems. Various UN General Assembly declarations on the rights of PWDS serve as soft laws for the protection of the rights of PWDs; and the international Bill of Rights can be applicable to their protection. In particular, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) contains provisions that recognize and protect various aspects of the rights of PWDS. The Convention clearly declares the rights of PWDs to access to justice both in civil and criminal proceedings. Ethiopia is a party to this Convention, and in effect, it has an international duty to implement, among other things, the right of access to justice for PWDs in judicial proceedings. This article examines access for PWDs in the Federal Courts in civil proceedings. It focuses on the legal and practical problems in the implementation of the right to access to justice in spite of attempts made by the government in this regard. Additional legislative and institutional improvements are thus necessary –to the extent possible– in order to realize the rights of access to justice for PWDs since substantive rights will remain meaningless in the absence of access to justice.