October 24, 2015
Codification of the Civil Procedure Code of the State of Eritrea
by Fawzia Hashim, Minister of Justice
The Government of Eritrea mandated the Ministry of Justice to draft a Civil Procedure Code for the State of Eritrea. The Ministry, to which the drafting of legal codes is entrusted under Article 2(4)(5) of Legal Notice 14/1993, commenced the drafting process by assembling a team of international experts in the field of civil procedure to work in tandem with a national Law Reform Committee composed of Eritrean legal professionals. The Law Reform Committee was instructed to prepare a draft code that was concise, accessible and consistent with the values and aspirations of the Eritrean people. Countless meetings, correspondences, and studies of both customary law and practice in Eritrea and the experience of other nations culminated in the production of a preliminary draft Civil Procedure Code.
Following the submission of the draft, the Ministry of Justice convened the principal stakeholders in order to solicit comments and suggestions on the draft document. This was followed up with a series of meetings involving judges, public prosecutors, attorneys, law lecturers and other legal professionals before being presented for discussion and input at various consultative meetings.
From the inception stage of the drafting process up to this final form, relentless and continuous efforts have been exerted to ensure that the mechanism for handling civil disputes is just, orderly and efficient. It is in the interest of the society in general and the parties to a dispute in particular to see that their cases are disposed of without unnecessary delay. The Civil Procedure Code of the State of Eritrea, therefore, aims at achieving uniformity, predictability and certainty in the administration of justice.
15 May 2015
