Bahir Dar University Journal of Law
Journal / Bahir Dar University Journal of Law / Submissions

The Law School of Bahir Dar University publishes a peer-reviewed journal of law, the  Bahir Dar University Journal of Law (BDU Journal of Law). The Journal is a biannual  

publication that has appeared in July and December every year since 2010. The Journal is available in HeinOnline, and on the University’s website at the link  http://bdu.edu.et/pages/journal-law . The main aim of the Journal is to create a forum for  the scholarly analysis of Ethiopian and International law. This brief guideline is prepared  based on the Journal’s Policy with a view to inform potential contributors. 

Priority in Publication 

The Journal seeks to publish contributions on both international law and Ethiopian legal  science, justice system and jurisprudence.  

Content of the Journal 

The Journal publishes: 

1. Feature Articles: these are scholarly writings on any law or law related topic that meet  the rigours of academic writing. The Journal shall feature at least three articles in each  issue. 
2. Case Comments: these are contributions in which authors critically comment upon  cases decided by the highest courts at the federal and regional states and by arbitration  centres and standout for any reason. 
3. Book Reviews: these are contributions in which any book on Ethiopian law, the  Ethiopian justice system or a book with special significance in the field of international  law may be reviewed. 
4. Reflections/Notes: these are contributions in which authors canvas their insightful  personal thoughts on legal and justice related issues of common concern to the legal  community.  
5. The Best Student-Essay: the issue of the Journal that appears in December of every year, whenever possible, features the student essay that won the Best Student-Essay  Award for the year. 

Process of Submission 

1. Contributions may be submitted as an attached Microsoft Word document in an email  to: 

The Editor-in-Chief 

bdujol@yahoo.com 

at any time for publication in the next Journal.  

2. Authors should submit a separate cover letter as an attached MS Word document, in  the same email as the article submission, which includes  

∙ name of the author(s); 

∙ educational qualification;  

∙ institutional affiliation;  

∙ current occupation;  

∙ contact address (e-mail and phone number); and  

∙ an abstract of the article of a maximum of 250 words. 

3. The article attached to the email should be prepared for blind review. Therefore, it  should be free from any self-identifying information about the author(s). Identifying  information should be indicated only in the separate cover letter and email referenced  above. 
4. All English version contributions should be submitted in Microsoft Word document  format, written in 12 point font, 1.5 spacing, left justified, Times New Roman, with a  margin of 1 inch all sides; and Footnotes in 10 point font, single space, Times New  Roman.  
5. All Amharic version contributions should be submitted in Microsoft Word document  format, written in 12 point font, 1.5 spacing, justified, Nyala, with a margin on 1 inch all  sides; and footnotes in 10 point font, single space, Nyala. 

Size of Contributions  

The size of contributions shall be as follows: 

a) Feature Articles: Min 15 pages, Max 30 pages 

b) Case Comments: Min 3 pages, Max 15 pages 

c) Book Review: Min 3 pages, Max 5 pages 

d) Reflections/Notes: Min 3 pages, Max 15 pages 

e) Best Student-Essay: Min 5 pages, Max 15 pages 

Requirements as to Reference and Presentation Style 

Bahir Dar University Journal of Law uses the following style and citation rules.  1. Author’s affiliation: The author’s affiliation shall be indicated in a footnote marked by  an asterisk and not by an Arabic number. Authors shall refer to themselves, if at all, in the  third person throughout the text. 

2. Headings: manuscripts shall have an abstract and introduction. The body should be  arranged in a logically organized headings and sub-headings. Headings in the various  sections of the manuscript shall be aligned to the left margin of the page and shall be as  follows:  

Abstract  

Introduction  

1. First Heading  

1.1. Second Heading  

1.1.1. Third Heading  

1.1.1.1. Fourth heading 

i. Fifth heading 

a. Sixth heading  

Conclusion 

3. Citation Rule: Bahir Dar University Journal of Law follows footnote citation style. The  style of referencing for any contribution to Bahir Dar University Journal of Law shall be  guided by the latest editions of the Blue Book Citation Rules and its customized version  annexed at the end of this policy.  

Frequency of Publication  

The Journal is a biannual publication that will appear in July and December every year. 

Language of Publication  

1. Contributions can appear in the Journal in Amharic or English language.  
2. Contributions shall be published in the language their author has originally authored  them in.  

Exclusivity of Contributions  

All contributions that appear in the Journal should be unpublished original works of the  author. 

Manuscript Review Procedure 

1. Reviewers shall not be provided the identity of the author of the contribution. Authors  will not be allowed to know the identity of the reviewer of the author’s contribution.  2. The Editor-in-Chief shall make sure that all identifying information is removed from  the contribution and assigned a code. 

Feature Articles 

1. Feature articles shall first be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief for consistency with  the editorial policy of the Journal. 
2. Feature articles, which the Editor-in-Chief considers acceptable, shall be referred  by the Editor-in-Chief to a member of the editorial committee, or a staff member  of the School and an external reviewer who is not the staff member of the School  for rigorous review process. However, the editor-in-chief may also refer feature  articles to a third reviewer where he finds it necessary.
3. Reviewers shall report their decisions based on the evaluation form to  

∙ ‘accept as it is’;  

∙ ‘accept with minor revision’;  

∙ ‘accept with major revision’; or  

∙ ‘reject’.  

4. If a manuscript is accepted with modification, it will be returned to the author for  revision.  
5. Manuscripts accepted with major/minor revision, revised by the authors to the  satisfaction of the editorial committee shall be accepted for publication.  
6. The anonymous reviewers shall review the article based on the following criteria.  Reviewers will assign points out of a total possible of 100. Reviewers are asked to send  feedback to the Editor-in-Chief within fifteen days of receiving the article. The criteria  are:  

Clarity.........10%  

Organization...........15%  

Novelty and contribution to legal science.............25%  

Depth of scholarship...........25%  

Documentation..........15%  

Relevancy to international law or the Ethiopian legal system.. 10%  

7. Articles that get an average point total of less than 60 points shall be rejected and the  decision shall immediately be communicated to the author.  
8. Articles that get an average point of 60 points or above may be published in the  Journal provided that the author duly addresses comments forwarded by the reviewers  and the Editorial Committee. However, an article that gets an average point of 60, but  with 20 or more points’ difference between two reviewers shall be subject to additional  review. 
9. The contributions that appear in a single issue of the Journal shall be selected by the  Editorial Committee by taking into account the points earned by each contribution.  
10. Authors shall be notified as to whether or not their contribution will appear in the  

issue of the Journal under preparation for publication or in which issue of the Journal it will feature.  

Contributions other than Feature Articles 

All contributions other than feature articles shall be reviewed by the Editorial  Committee, which decides on the publishability of such contributions based on criteria  drawn up in advance by the Committee. 

Disclaimer  

Opinions expressed in the Journal, except the message from the Director of the Law  School and the Editor-in-Chief, reflect the views of the authors and not that of the  Journal, the Editorial Committee or the Law School. 

Copyright  

The copyright owner of the Journal is Bahir Dar University. All contributors will be  required to sign a copyright agreement. 

Complimentary Copy  

Authors may be provided with two complimentary copies of the issue of the Journal in  which their contribution appears. 

Annex 1 

Citation Rule 

Italicization 

All non-English words must be italicized. 

Emphasis 

To indicate emphasis use italics. 

References 

All contributions should duly acknowledge any reference or quotations from the work of  other authors or the previous work of the author. Reference shall be made in the original  language of the source document referred to. 

Quotations 

Quotations of more than three lines should be indented left and right without any  quotation marks. Quotation marks in the block should appear as they normally do.  Quotations of less than three lines should be in quotation marks and not indented from  the text. Regarding alterations in a quotation, use:- 

Square bracket “[ ]” to note any change in the quoted material, 

Ellipsis “…” to indicate omitted material, 

“[sic]” to indicate mistake in the original quote. 

Footnotes 

Footnotes should be consecutively numbered and be set out at the foot of each page and  cross-referenced using supra, infra, id. and ibid, as appropriate. Footnote numbers are  placed outside of punctuation marks. 

References in footnotes

References in footnotes should generally contain sufficient information about the source  material. In general, references should have the content and style outlined below in the  illustrations for the various types of sources. 

Authored Book 

Andrew Burrows, Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract, 3rd edition, Oxford  University Press, (2004), p. 317, [hereinafter Andrew, Remedies for Tort and Breach of  Contract]. 

Book with Volumes 

Julian Roberts and Mike Hough, Public Opinion and the Jury: An International Literature  Review, Ministry of Justice Research Series 1/09, (2009), p. 42 

Contributions in edited books 

Dieter Fleck, the Law of Non-International Armed Conflicts, in Dieter Fleck, (ed.), The  Handbook of International Humanitarian Law, Second Edition, Oxford University Press,  (2008), p. 613, [hereinafter Dieter, The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law] 

Journals Articles 

Alebachew Birhanu, Transitional Justice through Prosecution: The Ethiopian Red-Terror  Trial in Retrospect, Bahir Dar University Journal of Law, Vol. 1, No.1, (2010), p. 127 

Online Journal Articles 

Graham Greenleaf, The Global Development of Free Access to Legal Information,  European Journal Law and Technology, Vol.1 No.1, (2010), available at  http://ejlt.org/article/view/17 last accessed on 27 July 2010 

Forthcoming Articles 

Cite forthcoming articles in the same way as published articles, following the citation  with ‘(forthcoming)’. If volume and/or page numbers are not yet known, simply omit that  information.

Laws 

The Constitution of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No.1/1995,  Federal Negarit Gazetta, (1995), Article 9 

Revised Family Code, Proclamation No. 213/2000, Federal Negarit Gazetta, (2000), Article 1 

Treaties 

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol.  1155, (1969), Article 31 

Resolutions 

General Assembly Resolution 67/97, The Rule of Law at the National and International  levels, A/RES/67/97, (14 December 2012), available at  www.un.org/en/ga/67/resolutions.shtml last accessed on 19 March 2015 

Cases 

Landinelli Silva et al. v. Uruguay, Communication No. 34/1978, Human Rights  Committee (HRC), CCPR/C/12/D/34/1978, (8 April 1981) para 9 

የኢትዮጵያ መድን ድርጅት vs. ጊታሁን ሀይሉ፤ ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ሰበር ሰሚ ችሎት፤ መ.ቁ. 14057፤ 1998  ዓ.ም. 

Conference Papers 

Ben McFarlane and Donal Nolan, Remedying Reliance: The Future Development of  Promissory and Proprietary Estoppel in English Law, Obligations III conference,  Brisbane, (2006), p. 25 

Theses 

Javan Herberg, Injunctive Relief for Wrongful Termination of Employment, DPhil thesis,  University of Oxford, (1989), p. 10

Websites and Blogs 

Sarah Cole, Virtual Friend Fires Employee, Naked Law, (1 May, 2009), available at  www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html last accessed on 19 November 2009 

Newspaper Articles 

Kassahun Chanie, NBE Devalues Birr and Adjusts Interest Rate, the Ethiopian Herald,  (11 Oct 2017), p. 1 

Press Releases 

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Secure the Border by Deterring and  Swiftly Removing Illegal Entrants, October 08, 2017 

Interview 

Interview with Elias Hizkeal, Department Head, School of Law, Bahir Dar University, (4  August 2003) 

Websites and Blogs  

Sarah Cole, Virtual Friend Fires Employee, Naked Law, (1 May, 2009), available at  www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html last accessed on 19 November 2009  

Newspaper Articles  

Kassahun Chanie, NBE Devalues Birr and Adjusts Interest Rate, the Ethiopian Herald,  (11 Oct 2017), p. 1  

Press Releases  

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Secure the Border by Deterring and  Swiftly Removing Illegal Entrants, October 08, 2017  

Interview  

Interview with Elias Hizkeal, Department Head, School of Law, Bahir Dar University, (4  August 2003)