Review of Judgments under the Ethiopian Civil Procedure Code: Where Should Litigation Stop?

Abstract

Review of judgments in civil litigation offers litigants a chance to have their
cases re-examined either by the court of rendition or by a court found at a higher
hierarchy than the court which rendered the judgment firsthand. This
undertaking tries to strike a delicate balance between the search for truth and
the need to bring litigation to an end. In engaging in any kind of interpretation
concerning the review of judgments, courts are required to balance these competing
interests. This article is a critical examination of the law on review of judgments
against the various interpretations of the Cassation Division. Although the
Cassation Division offers a novel approach in its efforts to bring consistency to
our legal system, it has however overstepped its authority from a law
interpreting organ to one of a law-making body in the binding interpretation it
gave on review of judgments based on newly discovered evidence.