Women„s political participation has grown noticeably. In the 4th national election in 2010, the number of women candidates was 7% higher than in the previous election and almost half of the voters, about 47.8%, were women. In the House of Peoples‟ Representatives, the share of women members rose to 29% in 2011 increasing from an original 2.75%. Among the federal executive authorities, ministers, ministers of state, commissioners, deputy commissioners the number of women has reached 19%, and in the judiciary, it has reached 19.8%.22 Judicial Measures Recently, there was a case before the Federal High Court which relates to the nature of the principle of equality before the law; the formal justice criteria that all cases must be treated alike. The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission brought charges in 2013 to the Supreme Court against the former leadership of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (Melaku Fenta et al Vs Public Prosecutor) on the basis of Article 8 of Proclamation No. 25/1996. According to this Proclamation, in principle the Federal Courts have jurisdiction over; - Cases arising under the Constitution, Federal Laws and International Treaties; places specified in the Constitution or in Federal Laws. Under Article 8 of the Proclamation, the Federal Supreme Court was granted exclusive First Instance Jurisdiction over offences for which officials of the Federal Government are held liable in connection with their official responsibility. The defendants challenged the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court claiming that the law denied them their Constitutional Right to appeal. The lawyers of the defendants had argued that even if the former Director General of Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) was a government official with a Ministerial rank, he should not be tried at the Federal Supreme Court because this would deny him the Constitutional right for appeal. They presented their case to the Federal High Court„s 15th Criminal Bench which referred the case of Melaku Fenta, and others, to the Council of Constitutional Inquiry, requesting the latter needed to determine whether the Federal High Court had material jurisdiction on the issue. The Court indicated that the case needed interpretation by the Constitutional Inquiry Commission despite counter arguments from prosecutors of the Federal Ethics & Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC). The Council of Constitutional Inquiry, a professional body tasked to investigate and decide on constitutional disputes, found that the provisions violate a defendant„s right to appeal‟ as stated 22The FDRE National Human Rights Action Plan,2013- 15, pg 133 41