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 first hand. 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 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.