Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994
Property, Inheritance and Land Tenure
  • English

    7. Women have the right to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer property. In particular, they have equal rights with men with respect to use, transfer, administration and control of land. They shall also enjoy equal treatment in the inheritance of property.
    … (Art. 35)
  • Amharic

    7. ሴቶች ንብረት የማፍራት፣ የማስተዳደር፣ የመቆጣጠር፣ የመጠቀምና የማስተላለፍ መብት አላቸው፡፡ በተለይም መሬትን በመጠቀም፣ በማስተላለፍ፣ በማስተዳደርና በመቆጣጠር ረገድ ከወንዶች ጋር እኩል መብት አላቸው፡፡ እንዲሁም ውርስን በሚመለከት በእኩልነት የመታየት መብት አላቸው፡፡
    … (አንቀጽ 35)
Property, Inheritance and Land Tenure
  • English
    1. Every Ethiopian citizen has the right to the ownership of private property. Unless prescribed otherwise by law on account of public interest, this right shall include the right to acquire, to use and, in a manner compatible with the rights of other citizens, to dispose of such property by sale or bequest or to transfer it otherwise.
    2. "Private property", for the purpose of this Article, shall mean any tangible or intangible product which has value and is produced by the labour, creativity, enterprise or capital of an individual citizen, associations which enjoy juridical personality under the law, or in appropriate circumstances, by communities specifically empowered by law to own property in common.
    3. The right to ownership of rural and urban land, as well as of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State and in the peoples of Ethiopia. Land is a common property of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange.
    4. Ethiopian peasants have right to obtain land without payment and the protection against eviction from their possession. The implementation of this provision shall be specified by law.
    5. Ethiopian pastoralists have the right to free land for grazing and cultivation as well as the right not to be displaced from their own lands. The implementation shall be specified by law.

    7. Every Ethiopian shall have the full right to the immovable property he builds and to the permanent improvements he brings about on the land by his labour or capital. This right shall include the right to alienate, to bequeath, and, where the right of use expires, to remove his property, transfer his title, or claim compensation for it. Particulars shall be determined by law.
    … (Art. 40)
  • Amharic
    1. ማንኛውም የኢትዮጵያ ዜጋ የግል ንብረት ባለቤት መሆኑ/መሆኗ ይከበርለታል/ ይከበርላታል፡፡ ይህ መብት የሕዝብን ጥቅም ለመጠበቅ በሌላ ሁኔታ በሕግ እስካልተወሰነ ድረስ ንብረት የመያዝና በንብረት የመጠቀም ወይም የሌሎችን ዜጐች መብቶች እስካልተቃረነ ድረስ ንብረትን የመሸጥ የማውረስ ወይም በሌላ መንገድ የማስተላለፍ መብቶችን ያካትታል፡፡
    2. ለዚህ አንቀጽ ዓላማ «የግል ንብረት» ማለት ማንኛውም ኢትዮጵያዊ ዜጋ ወይም ሕጋዊ ሰውነት በሕግ የተሰጣቸው ኢትዮጵያዊ ማኅበራት ወይም አግባብ በአላቸው ሁኔታዎች በሕግ በተለየ በጋራ የንብረት ባለቤት እንዲሆኑ የተፈቀደላቸው ማኅበረሰቦች በጉልበታቸው፣ በመፍጠር ችሎታቸው ወይም በካፒታላቸው ያፈሩት ተጨባጭ የሆነና የተጨባጭነት ጠባይ ሳይኖረው ዋጋ ያለው ውጤት ነው፡፡
    3. የገጠርም ሆነ የከተማ መሬትና የተፈጥሮ ሀብት ባለቤትነት መብት የመንግሥትና የሕዝብ ብቻ ነው፡፡ መሬት የማይሸጥ የማይለወጥ የኢትዮጵያ ብሔሮች፣ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች የጋራ ንብረት ነው፡፡
    4. የኢትዮጵያ አርሶ አደሮች መሬት በነጻ የማግኘትና ከመሬታቸው ያለመነቀል መብታቸው የተከበረ ነው፡፡ አፈጻጸሙን በተመለከተ ዝርዝር ሕግ ይወጣል፡፡
    5. የኢትዮጵያ ዘላኖች ለግጦሽም ሆነ ለእርሻ የሚጠቀሙበት መሬት በነጻ የማግኘት፣የመጠቀምና ከመሬታቸው ያለመፈናቀል መብት አላቸው፡፡ ዝርዝር አፈጻጸሙ በሕግ ይወሰናል፡፡

    7. ማንም ኢትዮጵያዊ በጉልበቱ፣ ወይም በገንዘቡ በመሬት ላይ ለሚገነባው ቋሚ ንብረት ወይም ለሚያደርገው ቋሚ መሻሻል ሙሉ መብት አለው፡፡ ይህ መብት የመሸጥ፣ የመለወጥ፣ የማውረስ፣ የመሬት ተጠቃሚነቱ ሲቋረጥ ንብረቱን የማንሳት፣ ባለቤትነቱን የማዛወር ወይም የካሳ ክፍያ የመጠየቅ መብትን ያካትታል፡፡ ዝርዝር አፈጻጸሙ በሕግ ይወሰናል፡፡
    … (አንቀጽ 40)
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.