Constitution of the Empire of Abyssinia from 1955
The Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie promulgated a revised Ethiopian constitution in November 1955 . This constitution, like its predecessor, was drawn up in 1931 through the consultation of international public opinion.
This opinion was particularly important this time because some neighboring African countries were rapidly progressing under European colonial paternalism and Ethiopia's claims internationally for the integration of the province Eritrea , where an elected parliament, the National Assembly and a modern administration since the Italian colonial era in Italian Eritrea had passed, modified.
The new constitution consisted of eight chapters and 131 articles. This document was drawn up by three Italian consultants who worked on the restoration in consultation with the two leading figures of the monarchy, Wolde Giyorgis Wolde Yohannes and Aklilu Habte-Wold . While it was clearly "not a mirror image" of the US Constitution , it contained a number of ideas from that document, such as: B. a separation of powers between the three branches of government, and careful attention to detailing the "rights and duties of peoples" to which 28 articles were devoted. Despite this element, John Spencer, one of the Italian drafters of the constitution, reports "that the Ethiopian Privy Council forced the drafters of the constitution to emphasize the prerogatives of the crown in the constitution." Bahru Zewde stressed the nature of these executive powers in his discussion of this document and stated that it was "a legal charter for the consolidation of absolutism". Bahru quotes the relevant section of Article 4 of the Constitution: "Because of his imperial blood properties [the origin of the Solomonic dynasty ], as well as the anointing he received, the person of the emperor is sacred, his dignity is inviolable and his power undeniable . "
Despite this strengthening of the emperor's position, the competence of the Ethiopian parliament , which now consisted of two chambers, was expanded. The Senate retained nomination rights, but the Chamber of Deputies was elected, at least nominally. There was a new legislative power: in contrast to the legislature under the 1931 constitution, in which only constitutional matters could be discussed, the new parliament now had the authority to propose laws and regulations and to propose veto from the executive branch. It could also summon ministers for questioning and, in exceptional circumstances, initiate impeachment proceedings against them. Its most important new function is believed to have been to control its budgetary position: Parliament now had the responsibility to approve or reject all planned budgets, including taxes and allocations.
However, the lack of a census, illiteracy among the population, and the rule of the countryside by the nobility may mean that the majority of candidates who tried to run in the 1957 election were elected by the elites. The Chamber of Deputies was not quite a stamp, in times of discussion and questioning of the bills and state ministers. However, provisions were guaranteed in the constitution that protected personal freedoms and fundamental rights, including freedom of assembly, movement and speech. However, the case law and the legislative process were so far removed from the realities of Ethiopian life that no group or person attempted to act publicly against them.
This constitution was suspended by the Derg government in its Proclamation No. 1, which aired on September 15, 1974, three days after Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed. Until the constitution of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 and the introduction into the People's Republic of Ethiopia , there was no further introduction of a new constitution.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b John W. Turner: Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry (eds.): Country Studies Ethiopia: Administrative Change and the 1955 Constitution ( en ) 1991.
- ↑ Keller, Edmond J. Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic (Bloomington: Indiana University Presse, 1988), pp. 84f
- ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia , second edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), 206
- ^ Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia , 87
- ↑ Rene LaFort, Ethiopia: An Heretical Revolution? Translated by AM Berrett (London: Zed Presse, 1983), page 70