Abstract:
In most jurisdictions including Ethiopia as crime is seen primarily as an act against the state
rather than the individuals, parties to the proceeding is prosecutor and perpetrator of the crime
in exclusion of victims. Justice in actual sense is not only two fold movement between the
criminal and state, but justice should be also for victims of those crimes. Under criminal justice
system of Ethiopia remedy of victims without clear identification as to victims of international
crimes or ordinary crime is provided. Hence the theme of this thesis is to examine whether or not
right to effective remedy for victims of international crimes exist under Ethiopian criminal
justice system and to analyze the legal basis of this right in Ethiopia. The approach of Ethiopian
court with regard to rights to remedy of victims of international crimes has been also observed.
To this end, the researcher used mixed research approach of doctrinal research to examine legal
doctrine of the rights to effective remedy for victims of international crimes and non-doctrinal
research specifically qualitative research method to examine practical applicability of laws
related to remedial rights of victims of international crimes, and identify the practical gaps exists
with regard to rights to effective remedy in using questionnaries as sampling tools of data
collection. Then the data were analyzed deductively for doctrinal research while inductively for
qualitative research method in examining the practical application of laws, and existing
challenges on the ground. Based upon the research findings, the researcher found out that
though Ethiopia has conventional obligation to provide remedy for victims of core crimes under
international human rights and humanitarian law as well engaged in domestic prosecution of
international Crimes at its domestic courts, victims of those heinous crimes are left without any
remedy. This study also reveals that major challenges prevalent in Ethiopia with regard to
rights to effective remedy for victims of international crimes are: absence of clear law both
substantive and procedural that regulate remedial aspects of crime of this category, absence of
institutional frame works indebted with mandate to regulate effective remedy for victims of
international crimes ,absence of independent state fund used for remedy of victims, and
scarcity of budget and prevalence of poverty are topical one . Based upon these findings sorts of
recommendations are also forwarded by this research
