Council Removes Judge from Federal Court for Violating Judicial Code of Conduct
The Federal Judicial Administration Council has penalized two federal judges for violating judicial code of conduct and disciplinary rule, according to the Supreme Court of Ethiopia.
The council, responsible to issue disciplinary and code of conduct Rules for federal judges in Ethiopia, held its regular session on Saturday.
The fifteen-member body first heard the charges involving federal first instance court judge Fantahun Delelew.
In a statement, the Supreme Court said the council found him guilty of violating the judicial code of conduct after looking into the evidence brought before it.
As per the Supreme court, the evidence showed that the judge discussed with one of the parties in an ongoing court case he was presiding over and received 100,000 birr bribery.
His actions violated “impartiality” and “neutrality” of the Federal Judges Judicial Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedure Regulation, the statement reads.
The council unanimously passed a resolution to remove him from his federal judge position and referred its decision to the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) for a final ruling.
The council also looked into a case involving another federal first instance court judge, Yonatan Abebe, according to the statement.
After reviewing the evidence, it says the council found him guilty of repeatedly violating the judicial code of conduct, and slap him with a penalty of five months’ salary. o
The latest ruling took place in the same week the Federal Supreme Court held an annual performance review and evaluation in the presence of Meaza Ashenafi, the chief justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia.
During the review, Supreme Court President Meaza said participants of the review meeting expressed concerns “about unfair misrepresentation of judges and the judiciary,” and “stressed that it has to stop to protect the integrity of a critical government organ.”
During the past year, there were 25,000 cases brought to the court out of which 96% of cases were disposed of within one year. “Even though the number of court users increased by 5,000, our judges have worked tirelessly to dispose these cases,” Meaza said in a tweet. “I have big respect and admiration for them”.
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