Current Trends in the Legal Research of Ethiopian Law Schools: A Move from Doctrinal to Empirical Legal Research

Abstract

This paper examines the priority and culture of non-doctrinal (empirical) legal research in Ethiopian law schools. It explores how legal education in the past and the old LL.B. Curriculum affect the nature of legal research in Ethiopian law schools. The author argues that the nature of articles published in Ethiopian law journals, term papers, assignments and senior essays written by law students, absence of a course in the old curriculum on legal research, skill oriented and interdisciplinary courses contribute much toward having had solely doctrinal legal research. Additionally, this paper shows the current trend of moving from the traditional doctrinal legal research to the non-doctrinal (empirical) legal research in Ethiopian law schools. Through examining how the revised LL.B. Curriculum, the newly opened LL.M. graduate programs and the attempt to conduct empirical legal research by law instructors contributes to the move to non-doctrinal (empirical) legal research, the challenges of legal research faced by Ethiopian law schools are also revealed. Finally, the author concludes that though there have been some attempts toward positive change, sufficient priority is not given to non-doctrinal (empirical) legal research in Ethiopian law schools.