Stepping Away from Traditional Sentencing: Exploring Alternative Punishment Methods in Ethiopia to Reduce Prison Overcrowding

Author: Henok Wolka Worsiso

Senior Human Rights Officer at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

Introduction

The Ethiopian justice system has long been confronted with a multitude of challenges, including issues such as prison overcrowding, limited resources, and a lack of focus on rehabilitation. Traditional sentencing methods, which predominantly rely on punitive measures, have proven to be inefficient in addressing the root causes of crime especially in case of less serious crimes. Thus, exploring alternative punishment methods has emerged as a potential solution to alleviate these concerns and promote a more just and rehabilitative approach. According to United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules) there are several non-custodial or alternative punishments available as alternatives to imprisonment. In this paper attention is paid to the two alternative punishments specifically: community service and probation.  

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