11 March 2008
Addis Ababa — The Children Legal Protection Centre (CLPC) of The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) said it stood by recent court decision that ruled there was no need for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to be published in the Negarit Gazette to be implemented in the country.
Negarit Gazette is a Ministry of Information booklet where government declarations and statements are published.
The Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court last month disregarded the need for publication, saying the conventions could be implemented even if they were not published as government declaration.
According to the centre, two opposing views have been shaped amongst child right actors with regard to the implementation of provisions of the Convention that are not integrated in the national laws.
The debate has since been over whether or not the CRC should be officially published in the Negarit Gazette in order to be applied at national revel.
"It was amidst this dilemma that on November 6, 2007, the Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court passed a landmark decision that sets precedent to lower courts," the centre said in a media statement issued on Monday.
"The Cassation Bench, in its ruling, disregarded the need for publication of the CRC in the Negarit Gazette in order to enforce all rights of children at the domestic level," it added.
The centre said it welcomed the court decision saying the verdict was a groundbreaking development in the Ethiopian legal system and indicative of the crucial and active role Ethiopian courts could play in realizing the rights of children in Ethiopia.
The government has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) realizing the rights of children in Ethiopia.
The Children Legal Protection Centre (CLPC) of The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) was established in 2005 with the objective of promoting and protecting the rights of children in Ethiopia.
As an advocacy organization, the Centre mainly aims at initiating child-friendly laws, policies and practices in Ethiopia through its various strategies and programs.
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