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8 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 487 (2006-2007)
Working towards Restorative Justice in Ethiopia: Integrating Traditional Conflict Resolution Systems with the Formal Legal System

handle is hein.journals/cardcore8 and id is 491 raw text is: WORKING TOWARDS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN ETHIOPIA: INTEGRATING TRADITIONAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION SYSTEMS WITH THE FORMAL LEGAL SYSTEM Dr. Julie Macfarlane* Most legal scholars study the formal legal system, focusing on principles of law and state-sanctioned procedures and institutions.' However, we know that this is only one aspect of the complex land- scape of dispute resolution. In every country, community, and or- ganization, systems of informal dispute resolution systems - often based on community customs or familial relationships, or embed- ded in institutional practices - run alongside the official state sanctioned processes. Despite their lack of formal authority and legitimacy, these informal alternatives may have as great, or even greater, an impact on the lives of those who use them as the state- sanctioned system. A growing interest in informal systems of dis- pute resolution has spawned a vibrant literature representing the intersection of many disciplines, including law, anthropology, soci- ology, and social psychology. Scholars of conflict resolution in their various disciplinary guises explore the substance and the role of informal systems of disputing and dispute resolution and their relationship, if any, to the formal legal system.2 This paper considers how the multiple realities of dispute reso- lution in any environment affect the work of conflict resolution practitioners. Conflict resolution practitioners are almost always invited in by representatives of the formal legal system, and their work generally focuses on managing - and perhaps reforming - this system. In practice, they cannot ignore the existence of paral- * Professor of Law, University of Windsor, Ontario Canada, juliem@uwindsor.ca. I would like to express my appreciation of the incredible commitment of the staff at Prison Fellowship Ethiopia, a social justice NGO who sponsored my visit to Ethiopia, and in particular, Ken Riegert and his family who hosted me during my visit. 1 Austin Sarat & Susan Silbey, Dispute Processing in Law, 66 DENV. U. L. REV. 472, 459-462 (1989). 2 For an anthropological analysis, see LAURA NADER, LAW IN CULTURE AND SOCIETY (1997) and SALLY ENGLE MERRY, GETTING JUSTICE AND GETTING EVEN: LEGAL CONSCIOUS- NESS AMONG WORKING CLASS AMERICANS (1990); in sociology see, for example, PATRICIA EWICK & SUSAN SILBEY, THE COMMON PLACE OF THE LAW: STORIES FROM EVERYDAY (1998); and in peace studies see, for example, JOHN BURTON & FRANK DUKES CONFLICT: PRACTICES IN MANAGEMENT, SETTLEMENT AND RESOLUTION, (1990). 487