Author’s Guidelines

The Law School of Debre Markos University publishes a peer-reviewed journal of law, Chokie
Journal of Law. The Journal is published annually, every October. The purpose of the journal is
to publish the results of original scientific researches on a wide range of issues of law such as the
history of legislation and state institutions, philosophy and sociology of law. This brief guideline
is prepared based on the Journal’s Policy with a view to inform potential contributors.

1. Content of the Journal

The Journal publishes:

1.1. Feature Articles: which are a thorough, original and high-quality academic analysis.
These are scholarly writings on any law or law related topic that meet the rigors of academic
writing. The Journal shall feature at least three articles in each issue.
1.2. Case Comments: which are manuscripts in which authors critically comment on relevant
cases decided by domestic and international courts as well as international tribunals and other
quasi-judicial body.
1.3. Legislative Reviews: which are manuscripts presenting the salient features of a new or
revised legislation in Ethiopia or comparative analysis of related laws.
1.4. Book Reviews: which are manuscripts that provide a summary and critic of a book on
Ethiopian laws or other topics and themes related to law.
1.5. Reflections/Notes: which are manuscripts in which authors put forward their personal
thoughts and insights on a pressing issue of law with a view to stimulating a discussion
and/or debate.
1.6. Review Article: an article that generally summarizes the current state of understanding
on a given topic. It surveys scholarly researches already conducted in an area, and it should
give an overview of current thinking on the theme.
1.7. Letter /Letter to the Editor/: refers to written submissions to the Editor-in-Chief
making comments on an article published in previously published issues of the same journal.

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 2. Language of Publication
2.1. Contributions can appear in the Journal in Amharic or English language. Contribution in
Amharic language shall have English Abstract
2.2. Contributions shall be published in the language their author has originally authored them
in.
2.3. All contributions, whether in Amharic or English should be submitted using “Template
for Chokie JoL”.

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All contributions that appear in the Journal should be unpublished original works of the author.

4. Copyright
4.1. The Publisher (School of Law of Debre Markos University) retains copyright over the
articles published in the Journal. However, authors may be granted the right to republish their
articles if the Board is notified of such use and that it carries the appropriate copyright notice.
4.2. The author of a published manuscript is entitled to receive electronic copy of his
contribution and one complimentary copy of the issue in which his contribution appears, free
of charge.

5. Process of Submission
5.1. Contributions may be submitted as an attached MS Word document, to the Editor-in-
Chief via the via the email chokiejol@dmu.edu.et
5.2. Authors should submit a separate cover letter using the “Cover Letter for Chokie JoL”
format.

6. Size of Contributions
The size of contributions shall be as follows, excluding footnotes:

6.1. Articles (5000 to 12000 words)

6.2. Review Articles (5000 to 10000 words)
6.3. Legislative reviews (1000 to 3000 words)
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6.4. Case Comments (1000 to 4000 words)
6.5. Book/Article reviews (1000 to 3000 words)
6.6. Notes (2000 to 4000 words)
6.7. Letter to the Editor (1000 to 2000 words)

7. Content and Presentation Style of manuscripts

7.1. Feature articles, review articles, and notes/reflections should be using “Template for
Chokie JoL” and have the following structure:
i. Title

The article title appears center justified at the top of the first page. The title font is 16 pt, bold.
The rule for capitalizing the title is; all words should be capitalized. Do not begin titles with
articles (e.g., a, an, the) or prepositions (e.g., on, by, etc.).

ii. Author’s name

The list of author/s/ immediately follows the title. The font is 12 pt bold and the author(s)’ names
are left justified.

iii. Author’s affiliations and biographies (see 7.6)

iv. Abstract

With single-paragraph, the abstract should be a summary of the paper and not an introduction.
Because the abstract may be used in abstracting and indexing databases, it should be self-
contained (i.e., no numerical references) and substantive in nature, presenting concisely the
objectives, methodology used, results obtained, and implication/recommendation. The abstract
should be an objective representation of the article and it must not contain results that are not
presented and substantiated in the main text and should not exaggerate the main conclusions.
Complete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used. The tense should be in
simple past. No literature should be cited. Abstract should not exceed 300 words.

v. Key words/terms

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List three to five pertinent keywords/ terms specific to the article yet reasonably common within
the subject discipline. The key words should indicate the content of the manuscript but without
merely replicating its title or textual sub-headings. These words should be separated with
semicolons.

vi. Introduction

The introduction part should provide adequate background that puts the manuscript into context.
This is to allow readers to understand the purpose and significance of the study. Authors should
avoid a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. Hence, it has to define the problem
addressed and why it is important. It should also include a brief review of the key literature. It
should also note any relevant controversies or disagreements in the field. Finally, it needs to
conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the work and the organizational structure of
the paper.

vii. Body

The body should contain discussions, analyses, arguments, etc. and may be divided into sections,
and subsections depending on the author’s approach to the subject matter. The body of the paper
consists of numbered sections that present the main findings. The rules for capitalizing for
sentences are; only the first word, proper nouns, and acronyms should be capitalized. At the first
occurrence of an acronym, spell it out followed by the acronym in parentheses, e.g., United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Paragraphs that immediately follow a section heading are leading paragraphs and should not be
indented, according to standard publishing style. The same goes for leading paragraphs of
subsections and sub-subsections. First lines of subsequent paragraphs should be 1.5 inch left
indented. Sections should be numbered sequentially. Spaces should be added before and after
each section, sub-sections and sub-subsections. There should not be extra spacing between
paragraphs.

viii. Conclusion

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Conclusion reflects the author’s synoptic opinion on the subject matter, and may include
suggestions, proposals, affirmation, recommendations, etc.

ix. Appendices

Brief appendices may be included when necessary, such as copy of letters or decisions. The
format for appendices is similar with Heading 1 except they will not be numbered.

x. Disclosures

Conflicts of interest should be declared under a separate header after conclusion. If the authors
have no competing interests to declare, then a statement should be included declaring no
conflicts of interest. The format for the disclosure is similar with Heading 1. The disclosure
section does not have a section number.

xi. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments and funding information (if necessary) should be added after the disclosure of
conflict of interest. The acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be brief. You
must ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named. Include grant
numbers and the full name of the funding body. The format for acknowledgement is similar with
Heading 1. The acknowledgments section does not have a section number.

7.2. Case comments: Case comments to be submitted to the Journal should bestructured as
follows:
i. Main subject heading;
ii. Case name and citation;
iii. Text: (1) the facts, (2) the decision, and (3) the commentary on the case; and
Summary remark.
7.3. Legislative reviews: Legislative reviews to be submitted to the Journal should be
structured as follows:
i. Main subject heading;
ii. Name of the legislation and citation;

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 iii. Body: (1) Background on the subject matter, (2) the objective of the legislation, (3)
introduction to main parts of the legislation, (4) the commentary on the legislation;
and its implication
7.4. Book reviews: book reviews should have the following elements:
i. A Header, that should include: (1) author(s)/editor(s) name, (2) title of book, (3) year
of publication, (4) edition (if second or subsequent), (5) publisher and place of
publication, (6) number of pages, (7) format (hardback, if available in e-copy), (8)
ISBN, and (9) price (if available);
ii. A summary of the intended audience and purpose of the book and how it contributes
to the field of scholarship;
iii. A description of the way the author approaches his or her topic, the rigor of the
research and scholarship, the logic of the argument, and the readability of the prose;
iv. A comparison with earlier or similar books (if any) in the field to place the book in
the existing literature;
v. An evaluation of the book's merits, usefulness, and special contributions, along with
constructive comments on its limitations; and indication of who would find the book
useful and its implication for research, policy, practice, or theory.
7.5. Letters: The letter to the editor should convey its message in a short and definitive
fashion. The comments should be objective and constructive.
7.6. Author’s affiliation and biographies: For all kinds of contributions, the author’s affiliation
shall be indicated in a footnote marked by an asterisk and not by an Arabic number.
Affiliations and biographies should be inserted as footnotes. They should be approximately
75 words or fewer. Similar with other footnotes, the font is 10 pt and single space.
Superscript letters (a, b, c, etc.) should be used to associate multiple authors with their
respective affiliations. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk, and
that person's email address and phone number should be provided in addition to the
affiliation. Authors shall refer to themselves, if at all, in the third person pronoun throughout
the text.

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 8. Page Setup and Fonts
Top, bottom, left, and right margins should be 1 inch. Use Times New Roman font throughout
the manuscript, in the sizes and styles shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Recommended fonts and sizes.

Style name Brief description
Article Title 16 pt, bold, uppercase, center
Author Names 12 pt, bold
Footnotes and Author Affiliations 10 pt
Abstract 12 pt
Keywords 12 pt
Heading 1 16pt, bold
Heading 2 14 pt, bold
Heading 3 13 pt, bold
Heading 4 12 pt, bold
Body Text 12 pt
Figure caption 10 pt
Table caption 10 pt

9. Requirements as to Reference/ Citation Rule

9.1. Chokie Journal of Law follows footnote citation style.
9.2. The style of referencing for any contribution to Chokie Journal of Law shall be based on
citation rule annexed at the end of this policy, which is the customized version of the
OSCOLA Citation Rules (Annex 1).
9.3. Where the customized version falls short of completeness for a specific citation, Authors
should resort to the latest editions of the OSCOLA Citation Rules.

Annex 1-Citation Rule- Customized version of OSCOLA Citation

Rules
 Chokie Journal of Law has adopted the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities
(OSCOLA) 4th Edition, 2012 with some modifications.
 OSCOLA can be accessed following the link;
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf
 The editors reserve the right to change manuscripts to make them conform with the house
style, to improve accuracy, and to eliminate mistakes and ambiguity.
1. Basic guidelines

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 1.1. Italicization
When the manuscript is written in English, non-English words must be italicized. When the
manuscript is written in Amharic, non-Amharic words must be italicized
1.2. Emphasis
Use italics for emphasis.
1.3. Quotations
Quotations of more than three lines should be double indented paragraph without quotation
marks. Quotations of less than three lines should be in a single quotation mark and not indented
from the text. Use square bracket [ ] to note any change in the quoted material, Ellipsis … to
indicate omitted material, and [sic] to indicate mistake in the original quote. Begin with an
Ellipsis … when a quotation starts mid-sentence. Any comments on the quotation should be in
the text or in a footnote. The superscript footnote marker comes last, after both the punctuation
and the closing quotation mark. Indicate any use of emphasis in a parenthetical clause after
superscript footnote marker by use of (emphasis added).If you omit citations or footnotes from a
quotation, put (citation(s) omitted) or (footnote(s) omitted) after the superscript footnote marker.
1.4. Footnotes
References in footnotes should generally contain sufficient information about the source
material. Footnotes should in accordance with the original language of the source document
referred to. The footnote marker should appear after the relevant punctuation in the text (if any)
and normally at the end of a sentence. It may sometimes be necessary, for the sake of clarity, to
put the footnote after the word or phrase to which it relates. Footnotes should be consecutively
numbered and be set out at the foot of each page. Close footnotes with a full stop (or question or
exclamation mark.
2. Specific Citation Rules
2.1. Primary Sources
2.1.1. Legal Instruments
Cite a domestic laws including italicized title followed by type and number of legislation, the
specific provision using Art., Sec. or Parag.
Federal Courts Proclamation, Proclamation No. 25/1996, Art 3.
Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 1/1995, Art. 29.
Criminal Procedure Code of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 185/1961, Art. 31.

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Amharic National Regional State The Urban landholding Registration and Information Offices
Establishment and Determination of Their Powers and Duties, Council of Regional Government
Regulation No. 137/2015, Art. 2.
 Cite legal instruments from other jurisdictions as they are cited in their own jurisdiction.
Accident Compensation Act 1972 (NZ)
2.1.2. Cases
 For cases, the general citation rule is:
The parties name [year of the decision] The Court and file number, [Year of publication in the
law report] volume/issue and the Law Report and first page of the relevant case.
Azeb Tamiru v Dejene Zewde [2009] Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench 104621,
[2010] 21 Decisions of Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench 47.
 The above example indicates a case between Azeb Tamiru and Dejene Zewde
decided by Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench on 2009 EC with a
file number 104621, and that the report can be found on volume 21 of Decisions of
Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench starting from page 47.
 When pinpointing, give the exact paragraph/page number in square brackets at the
end of the citation.
E.g. Azeb Tamiru v Dejene Zewde [2009] Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court
Cassation Bench 104621, [2010] 21 Decisions of Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court
Cassation Bench 47 [49].
 If the case is not reported in the Law Reports, provide all neutral citations as follows.
E.g. Alemu Fisseha v Bahiru Belay [2007] Federal High Court Lideta Bench 12890.
 Where a case name is given in the text, it is not necessary to repeat it in the footnote,
instead provide other details.
 Cite overseas cases as they are cited in their own jurisdiction with similar information
like domestic cases are included. E.g. Roe v Wade 410 US 113, 163-64 (1973).
 If the name of the case cited does not itself indicate the jurisdiction and the court of
decision, and the jurisdiction and court are not obvious from the context of your
work, you should indicate these in parentheses at the end of the reference.
2.1.3. International Treaties
 When citing the instrument for the first time, the italicized name of the treaty shall be

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 followed by the date of adoption and entry into force in bracket. Then short form of
the treaty followed by the specific provision/section/paragraph shall be provided as
seen below.
 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (adopted 16 December 1966,
entered into force 23 March 1976), ICCPR, Art. 10.
2.2. Secondary Sources
2.2.1. Books
2.2.1.1. Sole authored books
 Use italics for the title, and put the publication information in roman within
parentheses. Author, Title in Italics (series title, edition publisher, place date) page.
E.g. John Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (4th edn Butterworths,
London 2002) 419–421.
 Where a book has a title and subtitle not separated with punctuation, insert a colon.
E.g. Joseph Raz, Ethics in the Public Domain: Essays in the Morality of Law and
Politics (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995) 297.
 Where there are up to three authors, cite the name of all authors.
E.g. Gwyne Davis, Nick Wikeley and Richard Young, Child Support in Action (Hart
Publishing, Oxford 1998) 48.
 Where there are more than three authors, cite the first author followed by ‘and
others’.
E..g. Roy Goode and others, Transnational Commercial Law: International
Instruments and Commentary (Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004) 6.
 Names of Ethiopian authors should appear as follows: Author’s given (first) name
and his/her father’s name without changing the order. Subsequent, references should
be limited to given names. E.g. Assefa Fiseha, Federalism and the Accommodation of
Diversity in Ethiopia: A Comparative Study (2nd edn Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen
2007) 235.
2.2.1.2. Edited and Translated Books
 The rules are the same as sole authored books, except for the insertion of ‘(ed)’ or
‘(tr)’. Where there are two editors insert ‘(eds)’ or ‘(trs)’. E.g.1. Peter Birks and Grant
McLeod (trs), The Institutes of Justinian (Duckworth, London 1987) 14-15.

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 E.g.2. Gareth Jones (ed), Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (6th edn Sweet &
Maxwell, London 2004) 152.
E.g.3. Konrad Zweigertand Hein Kötz, An Introduction to Comparative Law (Tony
Weir tr 3rd edn Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998) 286–287.
2.2.1.3. Contributions to books
 Cite essays and chapters in edited books as:
The contributing author/s Name, ‘Title of the Chapter’ in Author, Title of the book in Italics
(series title, edition publisher, place date) page. E.g.1. Ian Brownlie, ‘The Relation of Law and
Power’ in Bin Cheng and ED Brown (eds), Contemporary Problems in International Law:
Essays in Honour of Georg Schwarzenberger on his Eightieth Birthday (Stevens and Sons,
London 1988) 233.
2.2.2. Articles
2.2.2.1. Hard Copy Published Articles
 The style for articles generally follows the style for books except peculiarities
provided as follows.
Name of the author, ‘Title of the Article’ [year of publication] volume number or issue
abbreviation/name of the journal the first page of the article, pinpoint page cited.
E.g. Andrew Ashworth, ‘Social Control and “Anti-Social Behavior”: The Subversion of Human
Rights’ [2004] 120 LQR 263, 276.
E.g. Minasse Haile, ‘The New Ethiopian Constitution: Its Impact upon Unity, Human Rights and
Development’ [1996] 20 Suffolk Transnat’l L. Rev 1, 6.
2.2.2.2. Electronic Journals
 For journals that are only published electronically, give publication details as for hard
copy published journals, but also provide the website address and most recent date of
access within angled brackets as <web address> | date accessed with no full
stop at the end.
 Include page number if there is any. E.g. Carolyn Penfold, ‘Nazis, Porn and Politics:
Asserting Control over Internet Content’ [2001] 2
JILT<http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2001_2/penfold> accessed 27
April 2005
 Where the author is not identified, cite the body that produced the document; if no such

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 body can be identified, insert two joined dashes (like this: ——).
2.2.3. Other Secondary Sources
2.2.3.1. Theses
 When citing unpublished theses, give the author, the title and then in brackets the
type of thesis, university and year of completion with no full stop. E.g. Javan Herberg,
‘Injunctive Relief for Wrongful Termination of Employment’ (LL.M thesis, University of
Oxford 1989) 34
2.2.3.2. Interviews
 When citing an interview, you conducted yourself, give the name, position and institution
(as relevant) of the interviewee, and the location and full date of the interview.
E.g. Interview with Irene Kull, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Law, Tartu University (Tartu,
Estonia, 4 August 2003)
 If someone else conducted the interview, the interviewer’s name should appear at the
beginning of the citation.
2.2.3.3. Websites and blogs
 When citing websites and blogs, use the following citation style. Name of the writer,
‘Title of the text’ (Name of the Website, Date) <the link> date of access. E.g.1. Sarah
Cole, ‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law, 1 May 2009) <www nakedlaw
com/2009/05/index html> accessed 19 November 2009
2.2.3.4. Newspaper/Magazine Articles
 When citing newspaper articles:
Name of the author, ‘The Title’ The Newspaper (Place of publication, Date) page
E.g 1. Jane Crof, ‘Supreme Court Warns on Quality’ Financial Times (London, 1 July 2010) 3
Ian Loader, ‘The Great Victim of this Get Tough Hyperactivity is Labour’ The Guardian
(London, 19 June 2008) <www guardian co uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/19/justice ukcrime>
accessed 19 November 2009
2.2.3.5. Speeches
 If the speech is unpublished: E.g. Vladimir Putin, Address on Security Council meeting
(Moscow, 13 Mach 2022)
 If the speech is taken from published document:
 Vladimir Putin, Address on Security Council meeting (Moscow, 13 Mach 2022) in

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 Russia Today (Moscow, 13 Mach 2022) 3
2.3. Bibliography
 Items in bibliographies take the same form as all other citations but with no specific
page/section/provision.
3. Short Forms for subsequent citations
 If you want to cite the same exact source in the footnote immediately following the full
citation, you can generally use ‘ibid’.
 If you are citing the same, work but with different page or provision, add the page
number/provision that is different from previous citation.E.g. ibid 345.
 If there is more than one citation in the preceding footnote, use ibid only if you are
referring again to all the citations in that footnote. Otherwise, use the citation rule for
other subsequent citations as provided below.
 In subsequent (not immediate) citations of a source, identify the source and provide a
cross citation in brackets to the footnote in which the full citation can be found. Assefa (n
12) 34.
 The above example refers to page 34 of Assefa’s work as initially cited under footnote
number 12 of your paper.
 If you have previously cited several works by the same author, the name and the title of
the work (or a short form of the title) should be given to differentiate from other works.
E.g. Assefa ‘Federalism and Development’ (n 15) 22.
 For subsequent citations of a case, you can abbreviate the names of the parties after the
first citation. E.g. Azeb Tamiru v DejeneZewde (n 1).
 For subsequent citations of legislations, you shall use the full form. E.g. Criminal
Procedure Code of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 185/1961, Art. 31.
 Subsequent citations of treaties, you shall use full name of the treaty unless abbreviations
or other short forms are available.
E.g African Union Constitutive Act, Art. 3
E.g ICCPR Art. 6.
 Never italicize or capitalize for ibid or n.
 Do not use supra, infra, ante, id, op cit, loccit, contra.

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