Legal pluralism in Ethiopia : actors challenges and solutions Frontmatter Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Towards widening the constitutional space for customary justice systems in Ethiopia 3. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and African Societies 4. Understanding customary laws in the context of legal pluralism 5. The handling of homicide in the context of legal pluralism 6. The interplay of customary and formal legal systems among the Tulama Oromo 7. Federal Sharia Courts in Addis Ababa 8. Use and abuse of the right to consent 9. Local strategies to maintain cultural integrity 10. Legal pluralism and Protestant Christianity 11. Kontract: A hybrid form of law among the Sidama 12. Legal pluralism and emerging legal hybridity 13. A matter perspective: Of transfers switching and cross cutting legal procedures 14. When parallel justice systems lack mutual recognition 15. Combatting infanticide in Bashada and Hamar 16. Clashing values Glossary Contributors Being a home to more than 80 ethnic groups Ethiopia has to balance normative diversity with efforts to implement state law across its territory.This volume explores the co existence of state customary and religious legal forums from the perspective of legal practitioners and local justice seekers. It shows how the various stakeholders use of negotiation and their strategic application of law can lead to unwanted confusion but also to sustainable conflict resolution and innovative new procedures and hybrid norms. The book thus generates important knowledge on the necessary conditions for stimulating a cooperative co existence between different legal systems