Bibliographie sélective OHADA

The purpose of this study is to provide a legal analysis of the impact of targeted financial sanctions on letters of credit and demand guarantees. The letter of credit is an important method of payment used in international trade. The demand guarantee plays a significant role as an instrument of security in commercial transactions. In their simplest form both instruments constitute an undertaking by a bank to pay a beneficiary against delivery of certain stipulated documents. Letters of credit and demand guarantees are known to be reliable and provide a considerable measure of certainty and predictability to the underlying transaction. Consequently, they have been described as the “lifeblood of international commerce”. Targeted financial sanctions entail assets freezing and prohibitions to prevent funds or other assets from being made available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of designated individuals and entities. Endorsed by the United Nations and implemented by the vast majority of jurisdictions around the world, targeted financial sanctions are increasingly being used to combat financial crime, including money laundering, terrorism financing and weapon proliferation financing. Banks play a critical role in financial crime prevention and detection. Hence they have been identified as institutions that must comply with targeted financial sanctions. The relationship between targeted financial sanctions and letters of credit and demand guarantees has generally not been well documented. It is hoped, therefore, that this study will make a meaningful contribution to the jurisprudence on letters of credit and demand guarantees. In investigating the impact of targeted financial sanctions, the study can be categorised into three parts. Part one investigates a bank’s compliance with domestic targeted financial sanctions. The chief findings of the study in this regard are that banks are under a legal obligation to comply with sanctions and, as a result, a bank that refuses to perform its contractual obligations under a letter of credit or demand guarantee may have a defence in law. In South African law the bank can raise the so-called defence of legal impossibility of performance to resist a claim for, or potential litigation in respect of, payment. Part two investigates a bank’s compliance with foreign targeted financial sanctions. Because compliance in this regard has no (legal) basis, the bank may conceivably be sued by the beneficiary for payment on the basis of breach of contract. Part three investigates problematic documentary practices that banks have adopted or conceivably may adopt to manage their sanctions risk exposure. In this regard, attention is given to so-called sanctions clauses and other non-documentary conditions. The issue of unjustified amendments by the beneficiary for the purposes of sanctions evasion is also considered in part three. The general conclusion arrived at is that by interfering with payment, targeted financial sanctions render letters of credit and demand guarantees unreliable, thereby having the effect of reducing their value to international trade and commerce. The author proposes certain recommendations and initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of targeted financial sanctions on credits and guarantees. Key terms: letters of credit; demand guarantees; financial crime; sanctions evasion; targeted financial sanctions; compliance; banks; due diligence; payment; reimbursement; credits; guarantees.

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the constitutional provisions relating to the relationship between international law and domestic law of the States of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa reveals an ambivalent conception of the system relationships. This is all the more true since the choice of monism with primacy of international law is affirmed both formally and materially. Even if this variant of monism seems to be tempered by certain constitutional provisions, the treaties have considerable effects in the domestic legal order. Once integrated into the legal order through the modalities of insertion, treaties have a supra-legislative and infra-constitutional rank. However, some constitutions of the States of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, such as Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, have not enshrined constitutional provisions on the place of treaties in the legal order. The concern to safeguard the supremacy of the constitution and consequently of national sovereignty may justify such a constitutional practice.

This thesis explores the regulation of airport charges, which is an important but marginalised topic. It particularly examines how private law instruments can play a role in the regulatory process. Airports used to be subject to traditional regulation, which operates in a command-and-control mode. As the airport industry becomes increasingly complicated, traditional regulation seems problematic. First, the method that is associated with traditional regulation to draw a line between regulated and unregulated airports has downsides. Second, the international regulatory framework on airport charges lacks binding rules. This suggests that traditional regulation is not the best niche for airport charges regulation. Third, good regulation needs independent regulatory bodies, which are hard to achieve in practice.In this context, this thesis argues that a private law approach can serve as a more flexible and effective way to regulate airport charges. There are two instruments under this overarching approach. First, contracts can be adopted to incorporate airport charges regulations. Second, robust corporate governance generates the effect of good regulation. This is an interdisciplinary work that has engaged air law, contract law, corporate law, competition law, and aviation business and management. It also employs the method of case studies. Chapter 4 examines the regulation of airport charges in the UK, Canada, and India. The three case studies demonstrate that private law instruments have been implicitly implemented to different degrees in these countries. These demonstrate the feasibility of applying private ordering in the regulatory process. I also look into the regulation of countries and regions including Australia, Ireland, the EU, and Germany throughout this thesis. This study also examines a specific sector of airport charges, namely, charges for ground-handling services. This sector possesses a unique feature in that it is between aeronautical and non-aeronautical services. A private law approach can also be adopted in the regulation of charges relating to ground-handling services. Additionally, ICAO as an important international organisation governing international air transport can also contribute to a private law approach of airport charges through its soft-law making function. This thesis aims to shed light on a private law approach, as an innovative regulatory mechanism, to airport charges. That said, regulation by this approach and traditional regulation are not contradictory but can cooperate to an extent, depending on how much power one wants to give to private ordering

Abuse of dominance in the digital markets. Digital markets. Art.102 TFEU: how can it be applied to digital markets? A global perspective: the evolution of the abuse of dominance in digital markets around the world. Europe: the proposal for a regulation on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (digital market act). United States of America: a time for reforms. China: a new approach towards digital markets. The Google Shopping case: the first step for competition enforcement in digital markets. The European Commission decision (AT.39740). The general Court decision (T-612/17). The Google case in the US: completely different results. A glimpse into the future: the Google Shopping case under the DMA.

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The recent discoveries of natural resources on both territorial and maritime borders have heightened the probability of conflicts between states specifically in the Horn of Africa and the Greater Lakes Region. As a highly volatile region, conflicts are not a foreign phenomenon which have been plaguing the region since transition to the post-colonial era. It is simple to argue that the cause of disputes is due to the arbitrary borders drawn by the European powers, however, the region is experiencing a contemporary ‘scramble and petition’ with countries racing to exploit and gain over the newfound resources. In addition to this, the rise of nationalist sentiments combined with the burgeoning population and struggle of governments to finance their domestic budgets while trying to reduce borrowing from foreign markets due to the inflation costs which makes it expensive, also plays a key role in the quest to benefit from mineral exploration and excavation. While traditional conflicts rose from land border disputes that escalated to violence especially between border communities, maritime conflicts tend to be handled in legal ways with parties seeking intervention from bodies such as the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Most cases are solved by outright delimitation of the maritime borders rather that joint management of marine land masses or natural resources based on mutual understanding or mutually assured benefits. The recent Kenya-Somalia Maritime dispute is an excellent case study. The aim of this research is to not only show alternative dispute resolution methods that can be used in maritime border disputes but also analyse the switch from pacific means of settlement of disputes to judicial intervention of the court. It begins by looking at the evolution of land border disputes between the two states, touches on the maritime dispute and their diplomatic, economic and security relationship. It further critically analyses the points of view of the two countries and the court’s ruling. Finally, it examines alternative dispute settlement mechanism that could have been used.

International Investment Agreements seek to promote foreign investment whilst protecting foreign investors. Despite the goal of International Investment Agreements being to secure parity between the interests of the host State and the foreign investor, there has been consequential disparity in the protection of the interests of both parties. Notably, the host State is susceptible to disadvantage. This research examines the extent to which International Investment Agreements in Tanzania have facilitated this disparity. In particular, the research evaluates the inclusion of fair and equitable treatment provisions in Tanzania’s International Investment Agreements and the extent to which fair and equitable treatment provisions have in some way facilitated this disparity. The research examines systematically the fair and equitable treatment provisions contained in twenty IIAs signed by Tanzania between 1965 and 2013 (eleven of which are still in force). The research takes a comparative approach in evaluating and contrasting the Tanzanian provisions with other fair and equitable treatment clauses in IIAs signed by India, Morocco and the Netherland. The Tanzanian provisions are vague and non-uniform in comparison. The research is situated in the broader context of national sovereignty and the relationship between Tanzania and its foreign investors under international law. The substance of the analysis centres on foreign investors in the mining sector in Tanzania and the extent to which these investors have sought to take advantage of the fair and equitable treatment clauses in the IIAs in order to pursue their activities to the detriment of local populations. The research evidences the negative impact of their claims that changes in government policy (often aimed at benefiting citizens) amount to unfair treatment of the foreign investor. This has a significant impact on the ability of the government to develop its policies around sustainable development, environmental protection and the guarantee of human rights of the citizens of the host State. The research demonstrates that a clearer and fuller articulation of fair and equitable treatment clauses within Tanzania’s IIAs can act as a corrective to the disparity between the host State and the international investor. This requires that IIAs are drafted to include an exhaustive and full list of the State’s obligations towards the foreign investor so as to limit foreign investor claims against the host State. The impact of not doing so has grave implications for the rights of the citizens of Tanzania and unnecessarily tips the balance of power in favour of the foreign investor and away from the host State. This undermines the ability of the host State to assert its sovereignty within its own borders.

The Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was established to ensure adherence to and the proper interpretation of the provisions of the SADC Treaty and its subsidiary instruments, and to adjudicate upon such disputes as might be referred to it. However, since its establishment, it has had a troubled history. After the rulings it made against the Government of Zimbabwe in the landmark Campbell land seizures case, the Tribunal's operations were unceremoniously suspended. This was followed by a process to revise its mandate, one that ultimately condemned it to paralysis and ruin. The new 2014 Protocol on the Tribunal, meant to revise the mandate of the Tribunal to confine it to hearing disputes involving states only, has been criticised as an attempt to undermine the rule of law and human rights in the region. Since the adoption of this 2014 Protocol by the SADC Summit, stakeholders have mobilised regionally to resist its ratification by member states. In particular, lawyers in SADC countries are embarking on legal petitions to reverse the Protocol and promote the revival of the Tribunal in terms of its old mandate. So far, there have been victories in these cases in two influential SADC member states, South Africa and Tanzania. However, it remains important to assess the significance of these developments. As such, the article raises the question: Is the Tribunal rising from its ruins?

In the ever-growing business world impacted by globalization, many commercial contracts nowadays contain an arbitration clause. This article focuses on the history behind arbitration as an alternative method of dispute resolution and its penetration to the forefront of mechanisms for resolving commercial disputes -with focus on England, France, and the United States. The article also delves into some of the key questions related to the relationship between an arbitration clause and the underlying contract in which it is contained. And those are the infamous separability and competence-competence doctrines. The author’s conclusion is that the efficiency of an arbitration clause is feasible only if its autonomy is entrenched and safeguarded from preventative and baseless court intervention. In that regard, the author addresses the consequences, current challenges, judicial and academic discourse, and the need for improvement when it comes to these two arbitral principles -all with the goal to provide contracting parties with forethought as to what to consider when drafting their contracts as to avoid unwelcome consequences.

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The paper examines the impact of corona-virus pandemic on women in Nigeria. Emergencies and times of unrest have been linked with increasing reports of Gender Based Violence. Pandemics and Epidemics on the other hand are no exception. The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with an increase in Gender Based Violence termed the Shadow Pandemic due to the control measures adopted in containing the spread of the virus. The paper adopted the Social Ecological Model to explain and understand the factors that contribute to the increase of Gender Based Violence against women during emergencies or natural disasters and how interaction of individual and environmental factors influence behavior and attitudes that create an atmosphere that encourages violence. The paper was based on secondary sources of data.  The findings of the paper revealed that the lockdown isolated women and attenuated opportunities for them to divulge the abuse or receive necessary support services or resources.  The paper also discovered that there has been an increased rate of reported cases of Gender Based Violence during the months of lockdown in Nigeria. The paper concluded that the corona-virus outbreak has exposed the shadow pandemic of violence and inequality and the exclusion of the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development is a step in the wrong direction . The paper recommended that it is pertinent to integrate gender lens into disease response and protection mechanism and Gender Based Violence services should be termed as essential duties during crisis and emergencies. 

How is the law measured? For long, it appeared that the law cannot be measured. While there are standards and processes, the law was not regarded as quantifiable. Only in the advent of recent technological advancements in law have there been considerations for metrics. These technologies sought to tackle the legal field’s inherent protectionism fueled by deep asymmetries in information. Consequently, the rise in legal ‘metrics’ stems from an access to justice perspective. The assumption is that in making the law more quantifiable, knowledge that has been historically opaque and inaccessible outside of the legal community may be revealed.Alternatively, it may be argued that the law has always been measurable. Words, through linguistic devices, have shaped legal meaning. In effect, the law conceivably has been measured by its words. In fact, “law exists as text” (Hildebrandt, 2015). I further this line of thinking by investigating natural language as the key vessel through which the law has manifested itself. Does the law depend on natural language to do its work? Importantly, is the language sufficient at housing legal norms?This dissertation seeks to tell a narrative. Broadly, it chronicles the story of law’s intimate relationship with language. But more specifically, the thesis details the law’s recent encounter with the digital. When law met technology, its relationship with language changed, invoking skepticism around its fitness for the conveyance of legal concepts. With the introduction of an innovative player – code – the law had perceivably found its new linguistic match. As a result, code was tested for its ability to perform and accommodate for the law’s demands. Ultimately, confronted by natural language and code, the law is asked whether code can be its language. Comment mesure-t-on le droit ? Longtemps, le droit semblait résister à la mesure. Bien qu'il existe des normes et des processus, le droit n'était pas considéré comme quantifiable. Ce n'est qu'avec l'avènement des récentes avancées technologiques dans le domaine du droit que l'on a commencé à envisager une telle quantification. Ces technologies ont cherché à s'attaquer au protectionnisme inhérent au domaine juridique, alimenté par de profondes asymétries d'information. Par conséquent, l'essor de la "métrique" juridique découle d'une perspective d'accès à la justice. L'hypothèse est qu'en rendant le droit plus quantifiable, des connaissances historiquement opaques et inaccessibles en dehors de la communauté juridique peuvent être révélées.On peut également faire valoir que le droit a toujours été mesurable. Les mots, par le biais de dispositifs linguistiques, ont façonné la signification juridique. En effet, il est concevable que le droit ait été mesuré par ses mots. En effet, "le droit existe en tant que texte" (Hildebrandt, 2015). J'approfondis cette ligne de pensée en examinant le langage naturel en tant que vecteur clé à travers lequel le droit s'est manifesté. La loi dépend-elle du langage naturel pour faire son travail ? Plus important encore, le langage est-il suffisant pour abriter les normes juridiques ?Cette thèse cherche à raconter une histoire. De manière générale, elle relate l'histoire de la relation intime du droit avec le langage. Mais plus spécifiquement, la thèse détaille la rencontre récente du droit avec le numérique. Lorsque le droit a rencontré la technologie, sa relation avec le langage a changé, suscitant le scepticisme quant à son aptitude à transmettre des concepts juridiques. Avec l'introduction d'un acteur innovant - le code - le droit a visiblement trouvé sa nouvelle adéquation linguistique. En conséquence, le code a été mis à l'épreuve quant à sa capacité à fonctionner et à répondre aux exigences du droit. Finalement, confronté au langage naturel et au code, le droit se demande si le code peut être son langage.

Ces dernières années, la plupart des pays en développement sont confrontés à la nécessité de concilier deux impératifs : d’une part, une demande sociale forte qui nécessite un besoin de ressources publiques supplémentaires, et d’autre part le désarmement tarifaire consécutif aux politiques d’ouverture commerciale, qui les prive de la majeure partie de leurs recettes budgétaires. D’où l’impérieuse nécessité pour ces pays d’assurer une transition dans la structure de leur prélèvement public c’est à dire de transférer la pression fiscale du commerce extérieur vers la fiscalité domestique. Cette thèse s’intéresse à cette problématique et vise à étudier les conditions de réussite d’un tel phénomène dans les pays en développement au travers de quatre essais empiriques. Le premier essai concerne le rôle de la TVA et des droits d’accises dans une première vague de transition. La TVA étant un impôt neutre et à très large assiette fiscale, cette dernière a été suggérée comme outil majeur pour réussir le transfert des ressources publiques du cordon douanier vers la fiscalité domestique et en complémentarité avec les droits d’accises. Nos investigations empiriques soutiennent cette assertion théorique et montrent que le couple TVA-accise joue bien ce rôle de substitut aux recettes de porte en quasi baisse suite au démantèlement tarifaire dans les pays. Néanmoins le rôle d’appui de la TVA et des droits d’accises est limité à partir d’un certain seuil de baisse des recettes de porte, qui traduit aussi le fait que le potentiel de mobilisation fiscale par la TVA dans ces pays est limité et qu’il faudra s’en préoccuper. Dans le second essai nous analysons la transition de seconde génération basée sur les impôts directs (impôts sur les revenus et impôts fonciers). Nous trouvons que les impôts directs sont des outils pauvres de transition fiscale dans les pays en développement. Pourtant, nous trouvons que le développement financier est un médiateur certain et incontestable à une politique de transition fiscale de seconde génération basée sur les impôts directs, car permettant de recouper l’information sur les revenus des contribuables et de générer des traces documentaires à l’administration fiscale, qui permettent d’envisager une mise à fiscalisation des contribuables, gage de recettes fiscales directes supplémentaires dans les pays. Dans le troisième essai, nous nous intéressons à l’effet de la mise en place d’une réforme de transition fiscale sur l’efficience dans la collecte des recettes en menant une étude de cas pour l’union économique et monétaire ouest africaine (UEMOA). Nos résultats supportent l’affirmative, en ce sens que la réforme accroit globalement une mobilisation efficiente des recettes dans la zone UEMOA. Cette efficience entrainerait par ailleurs avec elle une amélioration du climat des affaires dans la zone, suite à la mise en place de cette réforme. Enfin nous terminons cette thèse par un quatrième essai qui interroge quand à lui les impacts distributifs et de pauvreté d’une réforme de transition fiscale basée sur la TVA. Quoique les résultats montrent une incidence régressive de la réforme sur le revenu des ménages, une redistribution par la dépense aurait le mérite d’atténuer l’incidence sociale de cette stratégie de réforme sur le revenu des contribuables.

While electronic commerce in South Africa is still comparatively small, it is growing rapidly. The advent of the internet has potentially fundamental impacts on business and the law both locally and internationally. It is submitted the free competition on the internet is important and will continue to be so in the future. The research in this thesis relates to the rise of so-called internet monopolies (such as Google, Facebook and Amazon) and its implications for competition law enforcement. A particularly problematic aspect of the products provided by some of these companies is that their products and services are ostensibly free to consumers. This thesis examines whether the traditional model for the regulating abuse of dominance would be effective in the instance where such an internet monopoly is charged with a contravention under South African competition law. The research and analysis in the thesis are effectively divided into three parts. The first considers whether abuse of dominance related to the internet deserves closer analysis and also assesses the purposes of competition law and how these are changing (or should change) in the light of new technology and markets. The second part deals with abuse of dominance both generally and specifically in relation to the internet. In this context, the thesis considers how harms may manifest and how dominance may be determined in the context of the internet. The final part considers specific issues that may be problematic in light of the internet. The interrelationship between intellectual property and competition law is analysed, along with aspects pertaining to the assertion of jurisdiction, the nature of competition law enforcement and the extent to which different jurisdictions may (and/or should) cooperate in dealing with abuse of dominance on the internet. The thesis submits that the South African legislative framework for regulating abuse of dominance on the internet is broadly fit for purpose, but that there is a need for developing new approaches and policy within that framework. It contributes to the existing body of knowledge and discourse by providing a comprehensive overview of the regulatory framework in South Africa, informed by comparative analysis; by applying this in a new context (hitherto under-researched in the South African context), and by offering concrete suggestions to frame policy and approach.

Du fait des changements profonds qu’apportent les nouveaux concepts sur lesquels se base le référentiel de l’IASB, le passage aux normes IFRS a été qualifié d’une révolution comptable. Le but d’harmonisation de cette institution se réalise à travers la diffusion mondiale progressive des normes IFRS. Toutefois, les entreprises de la zone OHADA sont concernées par ce changement. Compte tenu de la rareté des travaux de recherche dans le domaine, nous essayons d’analyser à travers ce papier, l’adoption de telles normes en contexte OHADA. Pour y parvenir, cet article rappelle le mécanisme de passage aux normes IFRS dans l’espace OHADA, étudie ensuite l’intérêt pour les entreprises de cette zone et enfin met en évidence les enjeux liés à un tel projet. Les principaux résultats montrent que loin d’être un simple outil de présentation et de communication de l’information financière, les IFRS constituent pour les entreprises de la zone OHADA, un levier d’attraction des investisseurs et d’intégration économique.

Money laundering, the financing of terrorism and proliferation financing continue to be serious threats to the stability of the international financial system. The international community therefore has prioritised the fight against these activities. For example, international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and others have developed standards and recommendations against which countries and organisations are measured in this regard. Against this background, this thesis investigates to what extent Botswana’s legislative framework regarding money laundering, terrorism financing and other illicit financial flows complies with international standards, especially the FATF Recommendations. The study sets the scene by defining and describing money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation financing, after which the current statutory framework in Botswana is discussed in detail. After subsequently setting out the various global and regional (specifically African) initiatives in the fight against money laundering and other financial crimes, the current state of affairs in Botswana is benchmarked against both the South African framework as well as the FATF Recommendations. The investigation is limited to a technical assessment (doctrinal analysis) of Botswana law to determine the current compliance (or lack thereof) of the country’s statutory provisions and to make recommendations regarding how the framework can be improved. It is difficult for some countries, especially African countries like Botswana, to comply fully with the FATF Recommendations, since compliance can be expensive and dependent on high levels of expertise on the part of the relevant authorities. Therefore, such more vulnerable countries tend to face a higher risk of being used as conduits for money laundering and related activities. Despite these and other challenges, Botswana has gone to great lengths to re-assess and improve its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation with a view to move towards full compliance with the FATF Recommendations. Nevertheless, the evaluation indicates that there are some remaining shortcomings in Botswana’s legislation. Consequently, the thesis concludes by proffering certain recommendations towards ensuring that Botswana’s AML/CFT legislation is rendered fully compliant with the FATF Recommendations.

The present thesis is concerned with a comparative study of contract law applicable in the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with a strong focus on the issues of invalidity of contracts and hardship. The purpose is to identify commonalities and divergences in these systems with different legal backgrounds, particularly the influence of civil law tradition in Brazil, Russia and China as opposed to common law in India, and the mixed system in South Africa. Among the identified divergences and challenges, the thesis purports to demonstrate that the obstacles are not insuperable and that there are rooms for the harmonisation and compatibility within the BRICS context with respect to the two selected topics of contract law. Even when full harmony is not reached, the research also purports to demonstrate that some countries may benefit from others divergent experiences. Detecting mutual contribution is of particular relevance to this group of countries, since they share the characteristic of being evolving systems which have undergone recent reforms in their legislation on contract law and may be more open to assess and incorporate more efficient contract practices.