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Common Court Of Justice And Arbitration Of The Organization For The Harmonization Of Corporate Law In Africa - Description [2004] PICTRes 10 (1 April 2004)
Common Court Of Justice And Arbitration Of The Organization For The Harmonization Of Corporate Law In Africa
The
Organization for the Harmonization of Corporate Law in Africa (Organisation
pour l'harmonisation du droit des
affaires en Afrique OHADA)
is a regional international organization that groups together 16 African
states, mainly of the Francophone area.
Its aim is to harmonize the legal
and judicial systems specifically in the field of business and
corporate law
of member States.
Indeed, most of the laws regulating business and corporations in the area
date back to the colonial period and no
longer correspond to the present
economic situation and contemporary international relations. To date,
very few
legal reforms have taken place. They have been piecemeal and
hardly coordinated between the States of the area. Moreover,
lack of financial
resources, and insufficient training of judges and court staff have made
the implementation of
such a fragmented legal system unpredictable.
The OHADA aims to restore the confidence of foreign investors and facilitate
economic exchanges among the member
States by providing them with a set
of common and simple laws that suit modern economies, promoting arbitration
as a discrete and speedy dispute settlement system in trade-related disputes,
improving the training of the judges and
the court clerks, preparing for
future regional economic integration.
To further these goals, OHADA has been endowed with four distinct organs:
the Council of Justice and Financial Ministers;
a Permanent Secretariat;
the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration; and the Regional School of
Magistracy.
The Council of Justice and Financial Ministers adopts by consensus actes
uniforme , uniform laws that are directly
applicable in the legal
systems of member States.
The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration is a body of seven judges,
the function of which is to provide advice
to the Council of Justice and
Financial Ministers on proposed uniform laws before they are adopted by
it, and to
act as court of cassation, in place of national courts of cassation,
on all issues concerning uniform laws.
When a case concerning uniform law is pending before a national court,
the case can be referred to the Common Court
of Justice and Arbitration
by either party or by the national judge. Finally, the Common Court monitors and facilitates
arbitrations. Namely,
it appoints arbitrators when they cannot be chosen by the parties. Second,
it monitors the
proceedings so as to ensure their impartiality. Finally,
it scrutinizes the arbitral awards before they are rendered, but
it does
not have the power to impose changes on their substance.
Data obtained from the Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT)
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URL: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/PICTRes/2004/10.html