Abstract:
This article seeks to present the work of the Ethiopian Federal Cassation Court in fostering the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Constitution of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It discovers that children’s rights jurisprudence is
gradually evolving through the utilization of these legal instruments. This development
challenges the current academic debate over the silence of Ethiopian courts with respect to their duty to invoke human rights provisions. Equally, it clarifies the confusion
about whether Ethiopian courts exercise their mandate to interpret and apply human
rights treaties. Nonetheless, the Court’s involvement in areas including ensuring compliance with the vertical obligation of children’s socio-economic rights is limited. The
article then identifies the challenges that limit exercise of the Court’s mandate, and suggests potential ways to enhance the Court’s constitutional duty of protecting and promoting children’s rights in the country
