² Civil Code, Proclamation No. 165 of 1960, Negarit Gazetta (Neg. Gaz.) 19/2; and Commercial Code, Proclamation No. 166 of 1960, Neg. Gaz. 19/3.

³ J. Vanderlinden, “Civil law and common law influences on the developing law of Ethiopia”, (1966) 16 Buffalo L. Rev. pp. 250, 251–2 [hereinafter cited as Vanderlinden]; R Sedler, “The development of legal systems: the Ethiopian experience”,(1967) 53 Iowa L. Rev. pp. 562, 568 [hereinafter cited as Sedler]; and G. krzeczunowicz, “Code and custom in Ethiopia”, (1965) 2 J. Eth. L. pp. 425, 428: “Ethiopia cannot be considered in a purely African customary context. Its tradition embodies elements of Mediterranean … civilization, with its Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman components … The kingdom of Axum was an ally of Justinian.”

⁴ See: R. David, “A Civil Code for Ethiopia”, (1963) 37 Tulane L. Rev. 187 [hereinafter cited as David]; David, “The law of contract and of civil wrongs in French-speaking Africa” in Integration of customary and modern legal systems in Africa, p. 160 (Allott ed., 1964) [hereinafter cited as David in Allott]; K. Redden, The legal systems of Ethiopia (1968) pp. 49–55, 58–61, 72–81, 86–90 [hereinafter cited as Redden]; F. Russel, “The new Ethiopian Civil Code”, (1963) 29 Brooklyn L. Rev. 237; and Sedler. For a more “ balanced” analysis of the Codes, see: J. Beckstrom, “Transplantation of legal systems: an early report on the reception of western laws in Ethiopia”, (1973) 21 Am. J. Comp. L. p. 557 [hereinafter cited as Beckstrom]; and Vanderlinden.

^{page 150 note 1} J. Escarra, “Exposé des motifs” in Background documents of the Ethiopian Commercial Code of 1960, pp. 11, 15 (ed. Winship, 1972) [hereinafter cited as Winship]; Redden, at p. 53; and David in Allott, at p. 167. Although the predominant flavour of the Codes is French, Swiss influences can be traced in Books IV–V of the Civil Code and a German influence is present in the Commercial Code.

^{page 150 note 2} See Berman, H., “Soviet perspectives on Chinese law”, in Contemporary Chinese law, pp. 313, 313–4 (ed., J. Cohen 1970).Google Scholar

^{page 150 note 3} David, at p. 204.

^{page 150 note 4} Escarra, “Minutes of the Commercial Legislation Sub-Committee meeting of 22 Oct. 1954” in Winship, pp. 90, 91.

^{page 150 note 5} Escarra, “Preliminary report on the preparation of the Commercial Code of Ethiopia”, in Winship, pp. 1, 3.

^{page 150 note 6} See: R. Pankhurst, (1968) Economic history of Ethiopia, pp. 346–451; and S. Date-Bah, “Aspects of the role of contract in the economic development of Ghana”, [1973] J.A.L. 254.

^{page 151 note 1} R. Seidman, “Law and stagnation in Africa”, (1973) 5 Zambian L. J., pp. 39, 40. See also p. 153 n. 2.

^{page 151 note 2} David, op. cit., at p. 188.

^{page 151 note 3} H. Jaguribe, Economic and political development, 1968, p. 10.

^{page 151 note 4} Op. cit. at pp. 9–11; and Wolf, “The élan vital of France”, Christopher, “The desiccation of the bourgeois spirit”, Ruggles, “The French investment program”, and Sawyer, “Strains in the social structure of modern France” in The civil law system, ed. Von Mehren, 1957, pp. 588–591.

^{page 151 note 4} F. Deak and M. Rheinstein, “The development of French and German law”, (1936) 24 Georgetown L. J. pp. 551, 560.

^{page 152 note 1} Id.; A. Tunc, “The grand outlines of the Code” in Readings on the historical background and development of the Ethiopian Civil Code 70, 82 (ed. Kindred 1969); K. Ryan, An introduction to the civil law 27 (1962); and R. Houin, “Reform of the French Civil Code and the Code of Commerce,” (1955) 4 Am. J. Comp. L. pp. 485, 488–9 [hereinafter cited as Houin].

^{page 152 note 2} David, French law 112–3 (transl. Kindred 1969); Deak and Rheinstein, op. cit at pp. 561–2; and Houin, at pp. 489, 494. Escarra (in Winship, at pp. 2–4) argues that separate code provisions are needed to regulate the subjective status of “traders”, and that it does not matter whether these provisions are in a Civil Code or a separate Commercial Code, if Commercial Code rules are synchronized with those in the Civil Code. In Ethiopia, however, the Codes come into conflict at several junctures.

^{page 152 note 3} L. de La Morandiere, “The reform of the French Civil Code”, (1948) U. of Penn. L. Rev. 1, 6; and Houin, op. cit. at pp. 486–489.

^{page 152 note 4} S. Bayitch, “Codification in modern times”, in Civil Law in the modem world, ed. Yiannopoulos, 1965, pp. 161, 167, 183.

^{page 153 note 1} R. Seidman, “Law and development: a general model”, (1972) 6 L. and Soc. Rev. 311.

^{page 153 note 2} E.g., J. Markakis, Ethiopia, 1974, p. 296: “The Codes … were cut on the most advanced models, quite removed from actual conditions in Ethiopia.”

^{page 153 note 3} These arguments are considered in greater detail in Part IV of the article, below.

^{page 153 note 4} David, op. cit., at pp. 193–4.

^{page 153 note 5} Id. at p. 193; Sedler, op. cit., at p. 609; and Beckstrom, op. cit., at p. 576.

^{page 154 note 1} Beckstrom, p. 572.

^{page 154 note 2} Krzeczunowicz, op. cit., at p. 427, finds a parallel between art. 3347 (1) and the repeal of the old law by the French Civil Code which, however, merely finalized a mature internal evolution of the law. He argues that art. 3347 (1) should have only repealed “… law and custom … inconsistent with the provisions of this Code”, and some judges proceed on the assumption that this is the case.

^{page 154 note 3} David, “Critical observations regarding the potentialities and the limitations of legislation in the independent African states” in Integration of customary and modern legal systems in Africa 44, 46–7 (ed. Allott, 1964); David at p. 200; David, in Allott at pp. 161, 164; Redden, at p. 72; and Beckstrom, at p. 560. It should be noted that Parliament deleted most of the extensive transitory provisos that David drafted in an attempt to prevent the divorce of law from reality. (G. Krzeczunowicz, “The Ethiopian Civil Code”, [1963] J.A.L. 172, at p. 175.

^{page 154 note 4} David, op. cit., at p. 194. See also Redden, at p. 55; and Sedler, at p. 579.

^{page 155 note 1} J. Vanderlinden, “The importance of Amharic for the development of the Ethiopian legal system” (mimeo, 1969).

^{page 155 note 2} A. Schiller, “The changes and adjustments…” in Legal aspects of economic development 193, 200 ed. Tunc, 1966.

^{page 155 note 3} W. Shack, The Gurage, 1966, pp. 163, 165. See text pp. 157 ff.

^{page 155 note 4} Malinowski, quoted in T. Elias, The nature of African customary law, 1962, p. 69. David (“Sources of the Ethiopian Civil Code”, (1967), 4 J. Eth. L. 341, 342, by way of contrast, argues that, until the early 20th century, “… Ethiopia was unable to live according to law”.

^{page 155 note 5} See P. Dorner, Land reform and economic development, 1972, pp. 73–74.

^{page 156 note 1} N. Marein, The Ethiopian Empire 1955, p. 250; and G. Constanzo-Beccaria, “Traditions, legislations and customary laws in Ethiopia”, in 3 Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, 1970, pp. 175, 180.

^{page 156 note 2} See Redden, at p. 72.

^{page 156 note 3} David, at p. 202.

^{page 157 note 1} Beckstrom, op. cit., at p. 568. C. Clapham, Haile Selassie's government 1969, p. 139, notes that: “There can be few parts of the world where the daily life of most people is so little affected by written law.” Although these statements are in agreement with the author's observations, the precise impact of the Codes, particularly in the rural areas, can only be determined through an extensive empirical investigation.

^{page 157 note 2} Seidman, op. cit., at p. 51.

^{page 157 note 3} Civil Procedure Code, Decree No. 52 of 1965, Neg. Gaz. 25/3.

^{page 157 note 4} N. Benham, “Law and justice in Ethiopia”, The Contemporary Review No. 941, (May, 1944), pp. 267, 269; Vanderlinden, at p. 256; David, at p. 203; Sedler, at p. 570; and Markakis, op. cit., at pp. 88, 298.

^{page 157 note 4} David, at pp. 189, 203.

^{page 157 note 5} A. Hoben, Land tenure among the Amhara of Ethiopia 1973, p. 210; T. Geraghty, “People, practice, attitudes and problems in the lower courts of Ethiopia”, (1969) 6 J. Eth. L. 427, 440, 455; and Beckstrom, at pp. 565–6.

^{page 158 note 1} G. Krzeczunowicz, “The present role of equity in Ethiopian civil law”, [1969] J.A.L. 145, 155; J. Ross and Zemariam Berhe, “Legal aspects of doing business”, (1972) J. Eth. L. Occasional Paper No. 1, 11–14, 19–20, 35–9 [hereinafter cited as Ross and Zemariam]; Escarra, “Book V: exposé des motifs” in Winship, pp. 105, 108; and Geraghty, op. cit., at pp. 480–1.

^{page 158 note 2} Sedler, at pp. 609–10.

^{page 158 note 3} Id. at p. 621. See L. Cooperrider, “The rule of law and the judicial process”, (1961) 59 Mich. L. Rev. 501, 507.

^{page 158 note 4} See Geraghty, op. cit.; and Sedler, op. cit.

^{page 158 note 5} See Revised Constitution of 1955 1 Cons. L. Eth. 1; and Proclamation No. 1 of 1974, Neg. Gaz. 34/1.

^{page 158 note 6} Proclamation No. 323 of 1973, Neg. Gaz. 32/24.

^{page 159 note 1} J. Nyerere, Freedom and socialism 1968, pp. 110–113.

^{page 159 note 2} Sedler, at p. 627.

^{page 159 note 3} G. Krzeczunowicz, “An introductory theory of laws”, (1973) J. Eth. L. Occasional Paper No. 3, 6. See F. Lawson, A. Anton and L. Brown, Amos and Walton's Introduction to French Law, 2nd ed. 1963, pp. 9–11.

^{page 159 note 4} See House of Lords, “Practice Statement” (1966); and Asante, “Stare Decisis in the Supreme Court of Ghana”, (1964) I U. of Ghana L. J. 52.

^{page 160 note 1} Fasil Abebe and S. Fisher, “Language and law in Ethiopia”, (1968) 5 J. Eth. L. 553' 553–4; David, at p. 199; Vanderlinden, op. cit., and Krzeczunowicz, op. cit., at pp. 6, 22.

^{page 160 note 2} Sedler, at p. 560.

^{page 160 note 3} C. Ganang and R. Pearce, Law and society, 1965, p. 76; and Alemanate G. Selassie, “Property relationships in Ethiopia and their implications for development”, p. 9 (Masters of Legal Institutions Thesis, Wisconsin 1972).

Civil Code Arts. 1204 (2) and 1205 (1) provide that:

“Ownership may neither be divided or restricted except in accordance with law. Without prejudice to such restrictions as are prescribed by law, the owner may use his property and exploit it as he thinks fit.”

In addition to expropriation provisions and the minimal protection of agricultural tenants discussed below, the minor and, in western legal systems, ordinary exceptions to a purely individual ownership are found in Civil Code, arts. 1228–56 (water law), arts. 1489–96 (collective land exploitation in conformity with tradition) and arts. 1535–47 (town planning areas). In practice these exceptions are of little relevance. In fairness to David, it should be noted that the provisions that were drafted concerning collective exploitation of property, modelled on Soviet Agrarian Code kolkhoz provisions, were replaced by Parliament (David, op. cit., at p. 348).

^{page 160 note 4} T. Morris, “The social toleration of crime”, in Changing concepts of crime and its treatment, ed. Lare, 1966, pp. 13, 23–4; Alemante, op. cit., at pp. 14, 35; and Ryan, op. cit., at p. 27.

^{page 161 note 1} See Date-Bah, op. cit., at p. 261.

^{page 161 note 2} See Foreign Exchange Proclamation, 15 Consolidated Laws of Ethiopia (Cons. L. Eth.) 7; Export and Price Control Proclamations and Regulations, 23 Cons. L. Eth., 3, 6–14; Labour Relations Proclamations and Regulations, 28 Cons. L. Eth. 5–9; Investment Proclamation, 19 Cons. L. Eth. 3; and Domestic and Foreign Trade Industrial Licence Proclamations, 1971, Neg. Gaz. 30/31–2.

^{page 161 note 3} In Tanzania, which has moved much further towards socialism than Ethiopia, parastatal businesses are utilized largely in key growth sectors, account for only 43% of total capital formation (half of which is foreign-financed) and make only modest contributions to employment and G.N.P. A substantial private sector, in other words, still exists. See J. Loxley and J. Saul, “The political economy of the parastatals”, (1972) 5 E. Af. L. Rev. 9, pp. 9–10.

^{page 162 note 1} David, Commentary on contracts in Ethiopia, trans. Kindred, 1973, p. 29.

^{page 162 note 2} See F. Kessler, “Contract as a principle of order”, in Readings in jurisprudence and legal philosophy, ed. Cohen & Cohen, 1951, pp. 140, 141.

^{page 162 note 3} Escarra, “Exposé des motifs”, in Winship, op. cit., pp. 11, 18.

^{page 162 note 4} David, at p. 346.

^{page 162 note 5} Escarra, “Book V: exposé des motifs” in Winship, at pp. 105, 112 (concerning bank-ruptcy provisions). Parallel justifications are made concerning provisions governing share companies, private limited companies and checks in id., at pp. 62, 74, 101.

^{page 163 note 1} See P. Thomas, “Legal and social responsibilities of the limited liability company to the public”, in Private enterprise and the East African company, ed. Thomas, 1969, p. 13.

^{page 163 note 2} “Sub-Commission Minutes” in Winship, at p. 74, 78.

^{page 163 note 3} “Declaration on economic policy of socialist Ethiopia”, Addis Ababa, February 7, 1975; “Banks and insurance companies nationalized”, Ethiopian Herald, January 2, 1975; 1, 6; “72 Companies made public property”, Id., February 4, 1975, 1; and Radio Ethiopia News, February 3, 1975.

^{page 164 note 1} Civil Code, arts. 2313–24, 2825 and 2390–3; and Commercial Code, arts. 124, 127 (1), 129 (1), 171 (3), 191 (2), 945 and 959.

^{page 164 note 2} Ross and Zemariam, at pp. 26–9.

^{page 164 note 3} Id., at 9–11; and P. Maris, “Law and African business”, in Thomas, op. cit., at p. 1.

^{page 164 note 4} 1966, 27 Cons. L. Eth. 2.

^{page 164 note 5} Ross and Zemariam, at pp. 22–4.

^{page 165 note 1} Id., at pp. 39–40.

^{page 165 note 2} See Y. Dror, “Law and social change”, (1959) 35 Tulane L. Rev. 749; and W. Chambliss, “Types of deviance and the effectiveness of legal sanctions”, 1967 Wis. L. Rev. 703.

^{page 165 note 3} Jauffret, “General Report: Book I”, in Winship, at pp. 50, 53.

^{page 165 note 4} Beckstrom, at pp. 574–5.

^{page 165 note 5} See Dror and Chambliss, at p. 73.

^{page 165 note 6} See Beckstrom, at pp. 577–8.

^{page 165 note 7} D. McClelland and D. Winter, 1969, Motivating economic achievement.

^{page 165 note 8} See arts, 199, 223, 265–72, 329–32, 635, 637, 656 and 658.

^{page 166 note 1} See arts. 560–76, 592–4 and 662–96.

^{page 166 note 2} See Civil Code, arts. 826–908; and L. Friedmam, “The law of the living, the law of the dead”, 1966 Wis. L. Rev. 340, at p. 352.

^{page 166 note 3} See Houin, at p. 490; and Bayitch, at p. 188.

^{page 166 note 4} Vanderlinden, at p. 250.

^{page 166 note 5} David, at p. 75.

^{page 167 note 1} See Bayitch, at pp. 178, 182.