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 Children, 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.
