Vertical judicial intergovernmental relation practices in the Ethiopian Federation

Federations vary in their approaches to structuring their judiciary, typically falling into single, dual, or integrated-court systems. In a dual court system – typically in the United States – federal and state judicial institutions operate independently, each possessing distinct powers, institutional frameworks, and administrative mechanisms, resulting in limited interaction between the federal and state courts. In contrast, integrated court systems exhibit closer relations, characterized by shared jurisdictional competence, organizational frameworks, judicial appointments, and administrative processes between the federal and state courts. Despite extensive scholarly attention to the institutional design and authority of courts in federations, empirical research on vertical judicial intergovernmental relations (IGR) in many federations, including Ethiopia remains limited. This paper, using an exploratory research design and a qualitative research approach, seeks to address that gap by examining Ethiopia's vertical judicial IGR practices as a case study, offering insights that may inform the development of similar forums in other federations.