Legal Education Reform Pursuits in Ethiopia: Attainments and Challenges (2006-2019)

Abstract

This article examines attainments and challenges in the pursuits of legal education reform launched in 2006. Achievements and challenges in LL.B programmes are examined based on the standards of the legal education reform programme relating to admission of students to law schools, staff profile, standards of reform relating to curriculum, course delivery, assessment, law school autonomy, research, publications, quality assessment and the requisite resources thereof. There are commendable achievements such as raising the duration of legal education from four to five years, the introduction of LL.B exit exam, and the preparation of a significant number of teaching materials. However, the data, documents and literature discussed and analyzed in this article indicate that the level of quality and standards in Ethiopia’s legal education stand below most of the thresholds that were envisaged in the 2006 Legal Education Reform Programme. Key terms Legal education reform · Quality · Standards · LL.B programmes · Ethiopia