Intoxication, Provocation and Necessity as Defenses of Criminal Irresponsibility in the Judgments of Emperor Iyasu, and Emperor Dawit III of Ethiopia: A Historical Reflection

Gizachew Silesh Chane; Nega Ewunetie Mekonnen

doi:10.20372/bdujol.v10i1.1340

Gizachew Silesh Chane Editor-in-Chief
Nega Ewunetie Mekonnen Associate Professor of Law, Bahir Dar University, School of Law. PhD Student, Bahir Dar University, Higher Diploma in Teacher Educator (Bahir Dar University, 2015), LL.M.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20372/bdujol.v10i1.1340

Keywords: Intoxication, provocation, necessity, plea of guilty, judgments of emperors, criminal irresponsibility

Abstract

Judgments rendered before the introduction of modern justice system in Ethiopia were largely subject to the final approval and analysis of the emperors. This trend continued to some extent until 1974; in this regard the Crown Court of Haile Selassie I was the first to be mentioned. Cases brought before the emperorsâ€™ courts were often criminal cases, and the judgments of the emperors reflected principles and concepts of criminal law that have been recognized in the criminal law of many countries today. This reflection presents three criminal cases brought before the courts of Emperor Iyasu, and Emperor Dawit III of Ethiopia and argues that the judgments of these two emperors are compatible with the principles of defenses of intoxication, provocation, necessity, and criminal responsibility.

Author Biography

Gizachew Silesh Chane, Editor-in-Chief

Gizachew Silesh Chane

Gizachew has earned LL.M in Maritime Law from University of Oslo (2017), LL.M in Business Law from Addis Ababa University (2010), LL.B degree from Addis Ababa University School of Law (2006), and BA degree in economics from Bahir Dar University (2015).

Gizachew is currently working as assistant professor of Business Law at Bahir Dar University, and as Consultant and attorney at Law. With over 15 years working experience in teaching and advisory services, he has been engaged in teaching and training activities extensively. He teaches law of business organizations, corporate governance and finance, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and Law of Financial Institutions and Markets, among others. He also advises postgraduate students in different universities of Ethiopia on their dissertation.

Specifically for the last 3 years, as of October 2019, he is serving as director of legal service directorate for technology institutes of Bahir Dar University, responsible for advising the administration human resource management, training the staff and the administration on employment issues, among others. He has also undertaken problem solving research on legal matters in collaboration with NGOs, notably with USAID Ethiopia in which he won and delivered, together with associates, two successive researches in 2021 and 2022. Gizachew has published a number of research works in various areas of law.