Bibliographie sélective OHADA

That intellectual property is the creation of ideas in the form of new discoveries, literary works, and works of art, symbols, names and images used in trade. Of course, intellectual property is closely related to the world of commerce because its emergence is triggered by the desires of the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization who want to protect their economies in the era of free trade. In this case how the form of protection of intellectual property rights in the perspective of international trade, it can be seen that basically the laws and or regulations in every country in the world are different and each country has the right to implement its own legal rules in the jurisdiction of their country.

Le juge togolais a rendu une intéressante décision sur la contrefaçon en cas de cumul des droits, notamment de brevet et de marque, sur un produit. D’un côté, quant à l’appréciation de la contrefaçon de brevet d’invention, ne constitue pas une contrefaçon, la mise sur le marché d’une invention dont le mécanisme a une double fonction distincte de l’unique fonction de l’invention protégée. De l’autre, l’apposition de la marque d’autrui sur les emballages et l’étiquette du prix d’un produit constitue un comportement gênant et troublant susceptible de donner lieu à une réparation du dommage subi par le propriétaire de la marque. La portée de la décision dépasse de loin les seules conséquences de la contrefaçon. Elle implique également que, la propriété intellectuelle étant fille de la liberté de commerce et de l’industrie, l’appréciation de la contrefaçon ne puisse oblitérer l’aspect concurrentiel de ces droits. La liberté de commerce et de l’industrie peut donc aussi bien intervenir pour soutenir les titulaires de droit de propriété intellectuelle que pour encadrer leurs pratiques.

With the developments happening globally that are aimed at curbing base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals, improving the resolution of transfer pricing disputes has been identified as one of the key issues. This thesis investigates the challenges uniquely faced by African countries that militate against the use of the OECD transfer pricing dispute resolution mechanisms. The thesis starts by reflecting on the effect of transfer pricing manipulation by multinational enterprises in Africa in particular. Transfer pricing manipulation is one of the causes of the so-called tax gap, which is, the gap between anticipated and actual revenue collection. The aggression by revenue authorities against transfer pricing manipulation in order to close this gap has triggered a lot of transfer pricing adjustments. These adjustments have resulted in multiple transfer pricing disputes. In the analysis of the adopted OECD dispute resolution mechanisms, the thesis focuses on the effectiveness of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP), the advance pricing arrangement (APA) and the mandatory binding arbitration (MBA). It identifies the problems that result in the failure of or the delay in the resolution of many transfer pricing disputes by analysing the domestic frameworks that exist in four African countries namely: South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. The thesis identifies problems such as the absence of a tax treaty network within the African continent, the use of underdeveloped double tax agreements and the lack of commitment from African countries to subscribe to and ratify multilateral conventions. These problems delay or stifle the resolution of tax treaty disputes. They also cause uncertainty for taxpayers and lead to continued tax avoidance by multinational enterprises that essentially avoid paying tax in African countries where the economic activities of these enterprises take place. The thesis also identifies the importance of other OECD supporting tools such as the exchange of tax information in the resolution of transfer pricing disputes. It focuses on tools such as country by country reports, the master file, the local file and simultaneous tax examination as covered by the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The thesis contributes to the resolution of the identified problems with transfer pricing dispute resolution in Africa by recommending certain improvements that can be effected. These recommendations entail, regarding the MAP, the expansion of tax treaty networks by African countries and the establishment of a Tax Treaty Dispute Resolution Committee by ATAF. Regarding the APA, it is recommended that African countries should sign the multilateral instrument (MLI) and make use of advance tax rulings (ATRs) as alternatives. With respect to the MBA, this thesis recommends that African countries should use optional arbitration by effectively using article 25(4) of the OECD Model tax convention (MTC). It also recommends that African countries must enhance their tax transparency by ratifying multilateral conventions that seek to address international tax co-operation and to improve compliance with transfer pricing documentation requirements in order to make the resolution of transfer pricing disputes more effective.

This study explores the liability associated with the use of autonomous vehicles. With the increase in efforts by automobile industries to manufacture driverless cars, the issue of liability occupies the front seat of the discussion. A major benefit of autonomous and connected vehicles is their potential to ameliorate, if not eradicate, avoidable accidents on roads. Currently, it is estimated that 90% of road accidents are caused by human error. The epoch of driverless vehicles, where the narrative will drastically change, is upon us. This means a shift away from human liability to machine liability, since these technologies have in-built algorithms to ensure autonomous decisions by the vehicle. Product liability becomes crucial in the wake of driverless cars. The gradual and ultimate shift of liability from the traditional human driver to the machine ‘driver’ coupled with the cross-border sale of driverless vehicles provide justification for scholarly attention. Accidents may now be attributed to technological error and not human mistake. Conflict of law issues become central in instances where manufacturers and users live in different parts of the world... <br>LL.M. (International Commercial Law)

This thesis investigates the process of integration in the African Union (AU), and the reasons behind the slow progress of the AU to achieve the goal of deeper economic integration. In the research I explore the role of an AU member state in the process of African integration: Algeria. The research scrutinises the development of Algerian foreign policy towards the AU and highlights any changes in the Algerian FP attitudes and the reasons behind these changes. Similarly, the research unveils the reality of the decision-making process in this country, and the different agents that influence it. To achieve the main goals of the research, different theoretical choices were elaborated. This resulted in researching European integration theories; Neofunctionalism was, then, selected to study the Algerian development in the making of its foreign policy in general and towards the African Union specifically. Some concepts within the Neofunctionalist thinking were used including the principle of the shift of loyalties, the socialisation process, the spillover system, and the role of interest groups in the process of integration. Moreover, the theory of Regionalism was used to examine the process of integration in the AU discovering new reasons that led to the slow development of economic integration in Africa. Consequently, the research highlights the current obstacles and challenges that have hindered the process of economic integration in the AU, including the poverty of most of the AU member states, the limited financial budget of the Union and the instability of the majority of African countries. Furthermore, the research unveiled the lack of political will towards AU economic integration plans. Hence, this contribution extends beyond the traditional models of explanation, and discusses the situation in AU member states (in this case Algeria) and points to other factors as well such as the weakness of the lobbyist activities and business groups in Algeria specifically and Africa more generally. The thesis, then, focusses on Algeria’s supportive and active status in the AU security sector, highlighting how Algeria has been successful in pushing its own security and antiterrorism agenda to the AU level, thereby demonstrating that integration into the AU is possible, if it is backed by influential member states, and wider coalitions can be built to promote integration and cooperation.

Une profonde réforme du droit social est intervenue au Bénin en août 2017 par l’entrée en vigueur de la loi fixant les conditions et la procédure d’embauche, de placement de main-d’œuvre et de résiliation du contrat de travail. Dans ses mues, la nouvelle règlementation affirme la rupture d’avec la surprotection du salarié contenue dans le Code du travail et consacre l’introduction en droit positif béninois de la flexibilité considérée par certains comme synonyme de précarité de l’emploi. En réalité, il s’agit d’un changement de paradigme qui témoigne de l’articulation de l’adaptabilité du droit du travail aux exigences de compétitivité de l’entreprise. Dans le contexte béninois, la flexibilité induit une ambivalence. En conséquence, si l’on peut noter que la flexibilité introduite par la nouvelle loi fragilise le statut du salarié, on ne peut occulter que la réforme comporte des vertus faisant d’elle un outil de promotion de l’emploi : on a rendu vulnérable le salarié afin d’offrir plus de chance à l’embauche. Au-delà des remous qu’elle a pu susciter, la réforme aura le mérite d’opérer une courageuse et nécessaire révolution législative. A thorough reform of labour law took place in Benin in August 2017 with the entry into force of the law setting out the conditions and procedure for labour hiring, placement and termination of employment contracts. The new regulations mark a break with the overprotection of employees contained in the labour code and enshrine the introduction into Beninese positive law of flexibility, considered by some to be a source of job instability. This is a paradigm shift that reflects the articulation of the adaptability of labour law to the enterprise competitiveness demands. In the Beninese context, flexibility induces ambivalence. Consequently, while it can be noted that the flexibility introduced by the new law weakens the status of the employee, it can also be admitted that the reform has the merits to be a tool for employment promotion: the employee has been made vulnerable in order to offer more opportunities for hiring. Beyond the upheavals it may have caused, the reform will have the merit of bringing about a courageous and necessary legislative revolution. Uma profunda reforma do direito social teve lugar no Benin em Agosto de 2017 com a entrada em vigor da lei que estabelece as condições e o processo de contratação, colocação da mão-de-obra e da rescisão do contrato de trabalho. Nas suas alterações, a nova regulamentação afirma a ruptura com a superproteção do trabalhador contida no código do trabalho e consagra a introdução no direito positivo beninense da flexibilidade considerada por alguns como sinónimo de precariedade do emprego. Na realidade, trata-se de uma mudança de paradigma que testemunha a articulação da adaptabilidade do direito do trabalho às exigências de competitividade da empresa. No contexto beninês, a flexibilidade induz uma ambivalência. Consequentemente, se podemos constatar que a flexibilidade introduzida pela nova lei fragiliza o estatuto do trabalhador, não podemos esconder que a reforma comporta igualmente virtudes que a tornam num instrumento de promoção do emprego: tornou-se vulnerável o trabalhador para criar mais possibilidades de contratação. Paralém da turbulência que possa ter suscitado, a reforma terá o mérito de operar uma corajosa e necessária revolução legislativa. En agosto de 2017 se llevó a cabo en Benín una profunda reforma del derecho social con la entrada en vigor de la ley que establece las condiciones y el procedimiento de contratación, colocación de mano de obra y rescisión del contrato de trabajo. En sus mudas, la nueva reglamentación afirma la ruptura con la sobreprotección del trabajador contenida en el Código del Trabajo y consagra la introducción en el derecho positivo beninés de la flexibilidad considerada por algunos como sinónimo de precariedad del empleo. En realidad, se trata de un cambio de paradigma que demuestra la articulación de la adaptabilidad del derecho laboral a las exigencias de competitividad de la empresa. En el contexto beninés, la flexibilidad induce a una ambivalencia. En consecuencia, si bien se puede observar que la flexibilidad introducida por la nueva ley debilita la situación del empleado, no se puede ocultar que la reforma comporta virtudes que hacen de ella un instrumento de promoción del empleo: Hicimos vulnerable al empleado para ofrecer más oportunidades en la contratación. Más allá de las turbulencias que ha podido suscitar, la reforma tendrá el mérito de llevar a cabo una valiente y necesaria revolución legislativa.