Family Law

Course Course Title: Family

Information Law Course Code:
Laws2021
Credit Hours: 3 hrs.
/week
Class Schedules:
Wednesday 4,5,6 (Section
A) & Friday 1,2,3(Section
B)
Year: II
Academic Year:
2024/2025
Semester: I
Prerequisite:
None
Instructor Name: Afrah A.
Information Title: Assistant Lecturer
Office Location:
Administrative
Bldg. Office No.
118
Consultation
Hour: Wednesday
3:00-6:00 LT
Email Address: [email protected]
ECTS 5
 and
Independent study

final Assessment
Problem-solving
Student

Project works

Presentation

Continuous
Work-Load

Tutorials,
Lectures

Total
30 20 30 15 35 5 135
Course The Course on Family law deals with the relationships between spouses and
Description between children and their parents. The family being an indivisible unit of
society attracts interdisciplinary consideration. The course would focus on
the principles followed in founding a family through marriage or irregular
union. Although marriage or irregular unions have certain elements of a
contract, the course is more is about the status created vis-à-vis groups of
people. There are three main concerns about the status which shall be the
subjects of consideration: firstly, how a status is obtained or acquired;

secondly, what the legal consequences of such a status is; and thirdly, how a
status is extinguished or terminated.
Ethiopia, emphasizing the significance of regulating family matters, has put
in place laws which have recognized and protected the family. This course
will expose students to the basic principles of family law incorporated under
the Ethiopian legal system (the FDRE Constitution, Regional Constitutions,
the Revised Family Code of the FDRE and other regional family laws). The
course shall deal with the rationale behind recognizing and protecting the
family, sources of familial relationship, formation and effects of marriage
and irregular union, issues pertaining to filiations, adoption, the obligation
to supply maintenance and settlement of disputes.
Objectives, After a successful completion of the course, students are expected to
Competence achieve basic knowledge and competence regarding:
Achieved  The rationale behind recognition and protection of the family;

 The sources of family relationship;

 The effects of such relationships as incorporated under Ethiopian

family laws;
 Marriage and the essence of the institution of marriage;

 The essential conditions for the validity of all forms of marriage;

 Irregular union and its distinguishing features;

 The departure instituted by the new family laws of Ethiopia from the
1960‘s Civil Code particularly with regard to rights of women and
the protection of children;
 The rules pertaining to ascertainment of maternal and paternal
filiations;
 The mechanisms designed by the family laws to resolve disputes
arising in marriage and irregular union;
 Adoption and the essential conditions for the establishment of
adoption, its effects as well as the causes for revocation of adoption;
 The obligation to supply maintenance and the rationale behind such

obligation.

Pre-requisite None
Course Status Mandatory
Schedule
Contact

Hours
Course Chapter I: Introduction to family and family relations
Contents
1. Introduction to Family and Family Law

2. Definition and Sources of family law

3. Rationale behind Protection and regulation of the family

4. Sources of family relationships

5. Relationship by consanguinity

6. Relationship by Affinity

7. Relationship by Adoption

8. Effect of Family Relationship

Chapter II: The concept, modes and essential conditions of marriage

1. Betrothal

2. Definition of Marriage

3. Modes of Conclusion of Marriage

4. Civil Marriage

5. Religious Marriage

6. Customary marriage

7. Marriage celebrated abroad

8. Essential Conditions of Marriage

9. Consent

10. Age

11. Absence of other Impediments to Marriage

Chapter III: Non-observance of essential conditions of marriage

1. Opposition to Marriage

2. Effects of Violation of Essential Conditions of Marriage

Chapter IV: Personal and pecuniary effects of marriage under the RFC
of Ethiopia
1. General Overview

2. Personal Effects of Marriage

3. Respect, support and assistance

4. Family Management

5. Cohabitation

6. Duty of Fidelity

7. Pecuniary Effects

8. Personal Property of Spouses

9. Common Property of Spouses

10. Management of Personal and Common property of Spouses

11. Debts of Spouses

Chapter V: Proof of marriage under the RFC of Ethiopia

1. Registration of Marriage

2. Proof of Marriage by Certificate of Marriage

3. Proof of Marriage by Possession of Status

Chapter VI: Dissolution of Marriage

1. Grounds of Dissolution

2. Dissolution by operation of the law

3. Divorce

4. Divorce by Mutual Consent

5. Divorce by Petition

6. Effects of Dissolution of Marriage

7. Child Custody
 8. Liquidation of Pecuniary Relations

9. Partition of Matrimonial Property

Chapter VII: Irregular Union

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. The Concept of Irregular Union

4. Why Do People Live in An Irregular Union?

5. The Need to Protect Irregular Union

6. Legal Effects of Irregular Union

7. Proof of Irregular Union

8. Termination of the Union

9. Sources, types and proof of filiations

Chapter VIII: Filiation

1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Maternal Filiation
4. Paternal Filiation
5. Presumption of Paternity
6. Acknowledgment of Paternity
7. Judicial Declaration
8. Regulation of Conflict of Paternity
9. Disowning
10. Proof of Filiation
11. General
12. Proof by Record to Birth
Chapter IX: Adoption

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. Adoptions Defined

4. Essential Conditions and Effects of Adoption

5. Essential Conditions

6. Effects of Adoption

7. Inter-country Adoption and Safeguards of children

8. Inter-country Adoption in General

9. Placement of the Child

10. Selection of Adoptive Parents

11. Safeguards for Children in Inter Country Adoption

12. Follow –Up

13. The Child‘s Right to Identity and Secrecy

14. Prevention of Unlawful acts in Inter-Country Adoption

12. Revocation of Adoption

Chapter X: OBLIGATIONS OF SUPPLY MAINTENANCE 9.1

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. Rationale behind the Obligation

4. Subject Matter of the Obligation

5. Persons between whom the Obligation Exists

6. Termination of the Obligations

 Chapter XI: Settlement of disputes of family matters
1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Settlement of Disputes Arising out of Marriage and Irregular Union
4. Preliminaries
5. Settlement of Disputes by Court
6. Settlement by Arbitration
7. Settlement of other Family Disputes
8. Preliminary
9. Child Custody
10. Maintenance Allowance
11. Visitation Right

Methods of Lectures, seminars, student presentations, group discussions, individual and

Delivery group tutorials, assignments and project supervisions.
Mode of The final grade shall be determined based on the performance of students in the
Assessment following activities:
 Class Participation…5%

 Mid Exam…30%

 Assignments / Project/ Essays…15%

 Exam(s)…50%
References
 Aschalew Ashagrie and Martha Belete: Family law Course Material,
JLSRI, 2008

 Mizanie Abate, Bahir Dar University Faculty of Law Commentary on

Family Law (For Distance Education), 2006
 The Revised Family Code of Ethiopia (RFC) (2000)
 መሃሪ ረዲኢ፡ የተሻሻለውን የቤተሰብ ህግ ለመገንዘብ የሚረደ አንዲንዴ ነጥቦች 1995