Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994
Marriage and Family Life
  • English
    1. Men and women, without any distinction as to race, nation, nationality or religion, who have attained marriageable age as defined by law, have the right to marry and found a family. They have equal rights while entering into, during marriage and at the time of divorce. Laws shall be enacted to ensure the protection of rights and interests of children at the time of divorce.
    2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
    3. The family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
    4. In accordance with provisions to be specified by law, a law giving recognition to marriage concluded under systems of religious or customary laws may be enacted.
    5. This Constitution shall not preclude the adjudication of disputes relating to personal and family laws in accordance with religious or customary laws, with the consent of the parties to the dispute. Particulars shall be determined by law. (Art. 34)
  • Amharic
    1. በሕግ ከተወሰነው የጋብቻ ዕድሜ የደረሱ ወንዶችና ሴቶች በዘር፣ በብሔር፣በብሔረሰብ ወይም በሃይማኖት ልዩነት ሳይደረግባቸው የማግባትና ቤተሰብ የመመስረት መብት አላቸው፡፡ በጋብቻ አፈጻጸም፣ በጋብቻው ዘመንና በፍቺ ጊዜ እኩል መብት አላቸው፡፡ በፍቺም ጊዜ የልጆችን መብትና ጥቅም እንዲከበር የሚያደርጉ ድንጋጌዎች ይደነገጋሉ፡፡
    2. ጋብቻ በተጋቢዎች ነጻና ሙሉ ፈቃድ ላይ ብቻ ይመሰረታል፡፡
    3. ቤተሰብ የኅብረተሰብ የተፈጥሮ መሰረታዊ መነሻ ነው፡፡ ከኅብረተሰብና ከመንግሥት ጥበቃ የማግኘት መብት አለው፡፡
    4. በሕግ በተለይ በሚዘረዘረው መሰረት በሃይማኖት፣ በባሕል የሕግ ሥርዓቶች ላይ ተመስርትው ለሚፈጸሙ ጋብቻዎች እውቅና የሚሰጥ ሕግ ሊወጣ ይችላል፡፡
    5. ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት የግል እና የቤተሰብ ሕግን በተመለከተ በተከራካሪዎች ፈቃድ በሃይማኖቶች ወይም በባሕሎች ሕጐች መሰረት መዳኘትን አይከለክልም፡፡ ዝርዝሩ በሕግ ይወሰናል፡፡ (አንቀጽ 34)
Marriage and Family Life
  • English

    2. Women have equal rights with men in marriage as prescribed by this Constitution.

    5. a. Women have the right to maternity leave with full pay. The duration of maternity leave shall be determined by law taking into account the nature of the work, the health of the mother and the well-being of the child and family.
    b. Maternity leave may, in accordance with the provisions of law, include prenatal leave with full pay.

    9. To prevent harm arising from pregnancy and childbirth and in order to safeguard their health, women have the right of access to family planning education, information and capacity. (Art. 35)
  • Amharic

    2. ሴቶች በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት በተደነገገው መሰረት በጋብቻ ከወንዶች ጋር እኩል መብት አላቸው፡፡

    5. ሀ/ ሴቶች የወሊድ ፈቃድ ከሙሉ የደመወዝ ክፍያ ጋር የማግኘት መብት አላቸው፡፡ የወሊድ ፈቃድ ርዝመት ሴቷ የምትሠራውን ሥራ ሁኔታ፣የሴቷን ጤንነት፣ የሕጻኑንና የቤተሰቡን ደህንነት ከግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት በሕግ ይወሰናል፡፡
    ለ/ የወሊድ ፈቃድ በሕግ በሚወሰነው መሰረት ከሙሉ የደመወዝ ክፍያ ጋር የሚሰጥ የእርግዝና ፈቃድን ሊጨምር ይችላል፡፡

    9. ሴቶች በእርግዝናና በወሊድ ምክንያት የሚደርስባቸውን ጉዳት ለመከላከልና ጤንነታቸውን ለማስጠበቅ የሚያስችል የቤተሰብ ምጣኔ ትምህርት፣ መረጃ እና አቅም የማግኘት መብት አላቸው፡፡ (አንቀጽ 35)
Marriage and Family Life
  • English
    1. Every child has the right:

    c. To know and be cared for by his or her parents or legal guardians;

    4. Children born out of wedlock shall have the same rights as children born of wedlock.
    … (Art. 36)
  • Amharic
    1. ማንኛውም ሕጻን የሚከተሉት መብቶች አሉት፤

    ሐ/ ወላጆቹን ወይም በሕግ የማሳደግ መብት ያላቸውን ሰዎች የማወቅና የእነሱንም እንክብካቤ የማግኘት፣

    4. ከጋብቻ ውጭ የተወለዱ ሕጻናት በጋብቻ ከተወለዱ ሕጻናት ጋር እኩል መብት አላቸው፡፡
    … (አንቀጽ 36)
1

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994 (English). According to Art. 106: “The Amharic version of this Constitution shall have final legal authority.” There are discrepancies in the content of the English and Amharic texts.

2

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994 (Amharic). Copy obtained from the Ministry of Justice, Ethiopia.

Links to all sites last visited 6 March 2024
3
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
4
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
5
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.