Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Land transport operators in Cameroon can be criminally and civilly liable as a result of an accident resulting from their actions. This is provided for in section 289(1) of the penal code1. The criminal liability can be either in tort law, like in negligence, vicarious liability and strict liability, as well as under contract law. The criminal liability can be for an imprisonment term, the payment of a fine, or loss of life or destruction of property. However, the nature of liability in cases of accidents is faced with problems in Cameroon, as the cases suffer from continuous delay before the courts, weak sanctions provided in the penal code and more. This paper sets out to examine the efficiency of the nature of liability of transport operators in cases of accidents in Cameroon. A doctrinal research method has been adopted where the researcher has analyzed both primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources are the laws and cases decided by courts, while the secondary sources are other write up which the researcher consulted to complete the research paper. Our findings reveal that the laxity of the courts and weak sanctions provided by the Penal code affects the effectiveness of the liability regime for transport operators in cases of accidents. We recommend that the penal code be revised and a more stringent criminal sanction be put in place. Also, a separate court system should be set up for disputes related to accidents to solve the problem of continuous delay before the courts.

The liability of land transport operators in Cameroon is guaranteed by a good number of laws including; the constitution of Cameroon, the penal code, the 2001 law governing the Profession of Road Transport Operators, the 2023 law governing the rail sector in Cameroon and more. Such liability can be under the Tort of negligence, vicarious liability, or strict liability as provided for under section 289(1) of the Cameroonian penal code on Unintentional killing. However, the laxity of the courts in handling accident-related disputes, the contradictory and vague nature of the laws on the liability regime and even the lenient nature of the sanctions provided for by these laws do not meet up with the rate of accidents today in Cameroon. This article therefore has as its objective to examine the effectiveness of the legal frameworks in the establishment of liability of land transport operators in cases of accidents in Cameroon. Arguably, the author holds that the legal frameworks establishing the liability of land transport operators in cases of an accident in Cameroon are ineffective. A doctrinal research method has been adopted where both primary and secondary sources of information have been consulted. Our finding reveals that; the ineffectiveness of legal frameworks in the establishment of the liability of land transport operators in cases of accidents is a result of the laxity of the courts in implementing the laws and, the vague and contradictor nature of the law. We, therefore, recommend that; separate court hearings should be set for accident-related disputes and judges trained only on that, the laws should be revised, the sanctions in cases of accidents should be increased and all mitigating circumstances in cases of accidents should not be taken into consideration like a first-time offender, the plea of guilt etc.