Eritrea · Overview
The legal system of Eritrea
A civil-law system on paper, and the entry in this batch where the gap between the statute book and the operating order is widest. Eritrea inherited Ethiopian codes at independence in 1993 and replaced them in 2015 with transitional Civil, Penal, Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure Codes — genuine legislative instruments, and the 2015 Penal Code notably abolished the death penalty for most offences and introduced determinate sentencing. What cannot be verified is how they operate. There has been no national election since independence, no legislature has sat since 2002, indefinite national service is the dominant feature of most citizens' legal position, and special courts outside the ordinary system have been used for serious cases. Customary law, including the historic village codes of the highlands, remains significant in land and family matters.
Legal tradition
Eritrea belongs to the civil law with customary law tradition. A civil-law system on paper, and the entry in this batch where the gap between the statute book and the operating order is widest. Eritrea inherited Ethiopian codes at independence in 1993 and replaced them in 2015 with transitional Civil, Penal, Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure Codes — genuine legislative instruments, and the 2015 Penal Code notably abolished the death penalty for most offences and introduced determinate sentencing. What cannot be verified is how they operate. There has been no national election since independence, no legislature has sat since 2002, indefinite national service is the dominant feature of most citizens' legal position, and special courts outside the ordinary system have been used for serious cases. Customary law, including the historic village codes of the highlands, remains significant in land and family matters.
How power is divided
Unitary, with six regions and sub-regional administrations whose administrators are centrally appointed. There is no elected regional tier and no legislative devolution.
Where law comes from
- Proclamations
- Issued by the President and the executive; the operative form of legislation.
- Transitional codes 2015
- Civil, Penal, Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure Codes replacing the inherited Ethiopian codes.
- Customary law
- Highland village codes and other custom, significant in land tenure and family matters.
- Islamic law
- Applied in personal status for Muslim communities.
- Constitution 1997
- Ratified but never implemented; not an operative source.
The legal profession
The profession is very small. Advocates are licensed by the Ministry of Justice, there is no independent bar association, and legal education runs through a limited number of state institutions following the closure of the University of Asmara as a degree-granting body in 2006. Representation is not permitted before the Special Court. Reliable current figures are not available.
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