competent legal advice of the Council of Constitutional Inquiry before it arrives at its decision on constitutional matters. Constitutional Amendment: Amending constitution involves a long procedure. It is a rigid one. The formal initiation of a constitutional amendment can come from either federal or regional legislative organs (Negussie, 2006). A third of State Councils constitutionally must have supported a draft by majority vote where an initiative comes from the regions. Otherwise, either of the FH can initiate a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds majority vote. State of Emergency: The Constitution outlines specific procedures and institutions on temporary terms when situations arise that result in a state of emergency (Mattei, 2005). Under such circumstances, the Council of Ministers has the power to issue a decree proclaiming a state of emergency and take the measures necessary to protect the sovereignty and peace of the country and to maintain law, order, and public security. To this end, the Council of Ministers may suspend the political and democratic rights provided for in the Constitution. Inter-governmental Relations: The federal constitution regulates the relationship between the states and the federal government. The FDRE Constitution lists the state/region powers, concurrent powers, the federal powers, and leaves residual powers to the states. The principle of 'mutual respect' between state and federal governments and 'mutual non-interference' in one another's affair is highly recognized in the Constitution. Law making institutions The highest legislative law making institution is the of Peoples' Representatives. Its members are elected by a plurality of the votes cast every five years in general elections. Members of the House of Peoples' Representatives are popularly elected for a five-year term in a
Parties must willingly submit to the jurisdiction of these tribunals, or the dispute should be constitutionally redirected to the regular courts. All the federal Sharia courts are entirely accountable to the Federal Judicial Administration Commission of Ethiopia. All of the State Councils have given official recognition to Sharia Courts within their respective jurisdictions. Alternative dispute resolution ways are used in Ethiopia to settle conflict through processes other than formal litigation that takes place in the court of law (Macfarlane, 2006). These mechanisms could be either traditional or customary or found in formal institutions and laws. The mechanisms are included in the Ethiopian Civil Code of 1960 which deals with alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration, conciliation, and compromise, the labor law, the Ombudsman, and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The law enforcement agencies at the federal level, include the Federal Police Commission, Ministry of Justice, and the Federal Prison Commission (Macfarlane, 2006). The Federal Ministry of Justice has the ultimate authority for prosecution of cases falling under the jurisdiction of federal courts. Federal Police Commission Proclamation establishes the Federal Police Commission which is accountable to the Ministry of Federal Affairs. The Federal Prisons Commission was established as an institution accountable to the Ministry of Federal Affairs. The objectives of the Commission are to hold prisoners in custody and provide them with reformative and rehabilitative service to enable them to make the attitudinal and behavioral change necessary to become law-abiding, peaceful and productive citizens.