Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Circular labour migration is steadily gaining prominence the world over, primarily due to the benefits it offers to the migrants, to the sending country, and to the receiving country – the so-called "triple-win" benefits. In order to enhance the benefits of circular labour migration, both the International Labour Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration recommend that adequate instruments of governance should be utilised. From the outset, this thesis recognises bilateral labour arrangements as the ideal instruments for enhancing the potential benefits that circular labour migration offers to the stakeholders involved in the process. As far as could be established, there has been no comprehensive research that seeks to provide insights on how the selected countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe) could optimise the benefits of circular labour migration for all stakeholders, primarily through the use of bilateral labour arrangements. The need for these insights in Southern Africa is pertinent due to the absence of a contemporary and clear framework regulating circular labour migration in the region. Based on the foregoing, this thesis advances the proposition that the guidelines provided by international law and standards of labour migration, and the best practices in Spain and New Zealand, can provide significant insights on how South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe can enhance the regulation of circular labour migration to provide optimised benefits for all stakeholders. Proceeding from the above premise, this thesis makes a number of findings. These include the affirmation that bilateral labour arrangements are indeed the key regulatory instruments for promoting the triple-win benefits that circular labour migration offers; that circular labour migration, if managed well, plays an instrumental role in development in both the sending countries and the receiving countries; and that three key areas should be addressed in bilateral labour arrangements in order to effectively promote triple-win benefits. The three key areas that need to be addressed in bilateral labour arrangements in order to enhance the benefits for all stakeholders are linking migration with development, migration governance, and the protection of the rights of migrant workers. This thesis outlines the various principles that are necessary to give effect to these three key areas. This thesis finds that, based on the guidelines provided by international law and standards, it is essential that bilateral labour arrangements, at the minimum, incorporate provisions that facilitate skills training, the return and reintegration of migrants, the transfer of remittances, and the promotion of human resources development. In this regard, this study finds that the bilateral labour arrangements between South Africa and its neighbours, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, fall short of the guidelines provided by international law and standards on labour migration and by the best practices in New Zealand and Spain. The original contribution of this study lies in it being the first study to comprehensively explore the legal measures that South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe could utilise to optimise the regulation of circular labour migration to South Africa as the main receiving country in SADC. This study makes recommendations on how the labour migration legal framework between the three countries can be improved, based on lessons learned from international law and standards on labour migration and best practices from selected countries.

Responsible investment (RI) is the investment strategy that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the investment decision-making process (Hebb, Hawley, Hoepner, Neher, & Wood, 2015). RI has shifted from what was considered a niche market to become one of the fastest-growing areas of finance in many parts of the world (PRI, 2019b). However, a closer look at the development of RI and adoption rates in countries and regions reveals that RI is not commonly practised in sub-Sahara Africa (except for South Africa). This study explores the critical challenges for RI development in the retirement benefits sector of Kenya and, by engaging with a variety of key stakeholders, proposes how to overcome the identified challenges. It contributes to the literature on challenges for RI in a developing country by offering an in-depth case study of the retirement benefits sector.My study employs qualitative methods to collect and analyse data collected from semi-structured interviews with 22 participants (asset managers, regulators and capital market experts, and a council member of the Association of Retirement Benefits Schemes of Kenya) as well as a collection of published documents by government agencies in Kenya. Also, I analysed 10 annual reports to assess the kind of ESG information that is disclosed by listed companies. My study explores, in particular, how actors in the retirement benefits sector conceptualise RI. It identifies the leading ESG factors in Kenya and draws on the business-case approach to RI to explore whether the participants consider those factors as material risk factors that present both risks and opportunities to the investment decision-making process. Further, my study identifies the specific barriers for RI development and proposes how to overcome them. The findings show that participants define RI using several terminologies. This is consistent with the existing literature. My study finds that all participants consider corporate governance as a material risk factor that can impact the financial returns of a portfolio. However, most of the asset managers do not think that the environmental and social factors can present material risk factors to their investment decision-making process. Although over a third of the asset managers recognise that the environmental and social issues in Kenya present business opportunities to retirement benefits schemes, there is a shortage of well-structured assets in those areas. Further, this study identifies five specific barriers for RI development: diversification challenges; a lack of ESG data; a lack of demand/incentives; short-termism; and the demand for high financial returns and a lack of awareness and expert knowledge of RI practices. My study recommends that the National Treasury of Kenya develops RI policy for the entire finance sector. In addition, the findings support a recommendation for the Capital Markets Authority and the Retirement Benefits Authority to embark on capacity building programmes to educate the actors in the finance sector on RI strategies and to create awareness of the impact of ESG on financial returns in the long run.

Cet article propose d’évaluer l’impact des attributs du pouvoir discrétionnaire des dirigeants sur la performance financière de leur entreprise dans le cadre d’un pays doté d’un faible système de gouvernance, le Cameroun. L’analyse des résultats montre que le dirigeant qui mobilise ses compétences managériales spécifiques, investit dans des actifs ayant un lien avec ses connaissances ou encore cherche des soutiens au sein de son réseau relationnel obtient de meilleures performances que celui qui ne le fait pas. Seuls les dons aux administrateurs ont un effet négatif sur la performance financière. Toutefois, les dirigeants camerounais sont contraints dans leur pouvoir discrétionnaire par certains contre-pouvoirs, et le niveau d’endettement important de leur firme.

YK farklı sorunlar veya uyuşmazlıklarla yüzyüze gelebilir. Sorunlar veya uyuşmazlıklar kriz halini alarak YK'nın işleyişine olumsuz etki edebilmektedir. Kriz derinleştikçe, YK işlevini yerine getirmekte zorlanabilir. Krizin bir adım ötesinde ise YK kilitlenebilmektedir. Pay sahipleri arasındaki menfaat çatışmaları, YK kriz ve/veya kilitlenmesinin en sık rastlanan temel nedenidir. Kilitlenme durumunda, YK toplantı yapamamakta veya karar alamamaktadır. Oysa ki, YK her daim çalışabilmesi gereken bir organdır. YK'nın kilitlenmesi, şirketin de kilitlenmesi sonucu doğurabilir. Bu durum öyle risklidir ki, şirketin feshi/tasfiyesi yakın bir ihtimal olabilmektedir. Bu aşamada kilidin olabildiğince hızlı açılması şirketten menfaati olan herkes için (pay sahipleri, YK üyeleri, çalışanlar, alacaklılar, kamu vb.) hayati önemdedir. Bu nedenle, şirket esas sözleşmesinde YK kriz ve kilitlenmelerine karşı önlemler planlanmalıdır. Tek kişiden ibaret YK modeli ve YK'ya danışma kurulu desteği kilitleme riskine karşı önerdiğimiz modeldir. Pay sahipleri sözleşmesi, aile şirketleri için aile anayasası gibi hukuki metinler kriz ve/veya kilitlenmeye ilişkin tedbirler içermelidir. Önlemlere, rağmen kilitlenme gerçekleşir ise, öncelikle YK içi ve şirket içi çözümler uygulamaya konulmalıdır. Bu tür yöntemler yeterli olmazsa, AUÇY'nin tatbiki, şirket dışından gelen çözümün ilk aşaması olarak kabul edilmelidir. Arabuluculuk ile YK kriz ve kilitlenmelerine karşı etkin, hızlı ve kalıcı çözümler sağlanabilmektedir. "Med-arb" veya "Arb-med" gibi yöntemlerden de faydalanılabilir. Tahkim de bir çözüm yoludur. Bu yolda "seri tahkim usulü" YK kilitlenmeleri için daha uygundur. Son çare olarak nitelediğimiz, dava yolu ise, bazı durumlarda içinde şirketin fesih ve tasfiye riskini barındırdığı için kilidi açmak ve hatta kilidi kırmak için uygulamaya konulabilir. Mahkemelerde, organ yokluğuna dayalı fesih davası ve özellikle haklı sebeple şirketin feshi davası çözüm sağlayabilecek dava tipleridir. Özellikle, haklı sebeple şirketin feshi davası, kriz ve kilitlenmelere daha uygun olup, stratejik sonuçlara da imkân vermektedir. Bunlar yanında, YK işleyişinde yapay zekâdan faydalanmanın mümkün olup olmadığı, yapay zekâya YK üyesi olarak kişi statüsü verilip verilemeyeceği, bu meselenin YK üyelerinin sorumluluğuna etkisi incelenmiştir. Board of Directors may face various disputes or disagreements. These disputes or disagreements may turn into crises which negatively affect the normal functioning of the board. As the crisis deepens, Board of Directors could have difficulties in fulfilling its function. Moreover, a step further from the crisis, Board of Directors might even be locked up. Conflicts of interest among shareholders are known as the most common cause of the board of directors crisis and/or deadlock. In event of a deadlock, Board of Directors, a body should always be able to function, cannot hold meetings or make decisions anymore. The deadlock of board of directors, may lead the entire company to be locked down whereas the company may encounter the possibility of dissolution and liquidation. At this point, unlocking the crisis as quickly as possible is vital for relevant competent persons of the company. Therefore, measures should be taken in the company's articles of association against Board of Director crisis and/or deadlock. One-person Board of Directors model and support of Advisory Board to Board of Directors is the model we recommend against the risk of locking. Legal texts such as shareholder agreements and family constitutions for family companies should include measures regarding deadlock. If a deadlock has occurred in spite of precautions, first of all, Board of Directors and internal remedies should be implemented. If such methods are not sufficient enough, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods should be regarded as the first stage of external intervention. Effective and rapid solutions can be achieved against deadlocks via mediation. "Med-arb" or "Arb-med" could be also utilised. Arbitration is also a way and in this way; "expedited (fast-track) arbitration" procedure is more suitable for corporate deadlocks. Litigation, as the last possibility that we propose, could also be applied to unlock or even break the lock, since it contains the risk of dissolution and liquidation of company in some cases. In courts, termination action based on the absence of organs and especially termination of the company with a valid reason are the types of cases that may provide a solution. Especially termination of the company with a valid reason is more suitable for crisis and deadlocks, and also grants strategic results. In addition to these, it has been questioned in this study whether Board of directors possibly benefit from artificial intelligence in the operations and whether AI can be attributed a person-status as a member of Board of Directors. The effects of this issue on the responsibility of the members of Board of Directors have been analysed.

This thesis identifies the circumstances under which corporate governance regulation can help gain traction to minimise systemic risk. Systemic risk is the risk that local losses spread through the financial system and badly affect the financial system and the real economy. Excessive risk-taking by financial institutions can contribute to such systemic risk. Prudential regulation and supervision of financial institutions leave corporate decision-makers with room for discretion to increase or decrease systemic risk. The incentives of these decision-makers are not necessarily aligned with minimising systemic risk. The thesis shows that this problem exists across different business models. More specifically, it identifies perverse incentives in the case of systemically important banks, CCPs, mutual funds, and hedge funds. The need for corporate governance regulation therefore lies in the inherent incompleteness of prudential regulation and supervision. Corporate governance regulation can help fill this gap by regulating the environment within which choices are made within these types of institutions. The analysis has three steps. First, it characterises the systemic importance of financial-sector activities carried on outside the context of ‘banks’. The governance literature so far has focused on the ‘systemic externalities’ created by banks. However, our analysis shows that other non-bank SIFIs generate similar systemic externalities with socially harmful consequences. These systemic externalities are not considered by SIFIs when taking business decisions. In a second step, the thesis shows that prudential regulation and supervision are incomplete and leave room for governance regulation to fill in the gaps. The final step shows that a corporate governance framework focused solely on the interests of shareholders will have negative consequences for systemic stability. Given such divergence between the decision-makers’ and society’s interests, corporate governance regulation can complement the traditional prudential framework.

Las crisis económicas sufridas por la mayoría de los países industrializados han removido los cimientos del Derecho concursal, especialmente en lo que atañe a sus principios y funciones elementales. En este sentido, el aumento del volumen y de la complejidad de las estructuras empresariales ha incidido notablemente en las recientes reformas del Derecho concursal, las cuales han tratado de incentivar la función conservativa de los procedimientos concursales. El propósito de este artículo es analizar las dinámicas en la configuración de la función del Derecho concursal presentes en las recientes intervenciones legislativas llevadas a cabo por algunos países Europeos y Latinoamericanos. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo se sigue fundamentalmente un método analítico-descriptivo, a través del cual se justifica la relevancia interpretativa de la función del Derecho concursal, y se exponen las funciones tradicionales atribuidas a este sector del ordenamiento jurídico y el protagonismo de la función conservativa presente en las últimas reformas. A partir de ello, se realiza un análisis económico-funcional de esta tendencia, lo cual permite descubrir las tensiones existentes entre la función conservativa y la función solutoria. Desde esta perspectiva, se concluye sobre la necesidad de priorizar la finalidad solutoria de los procedimientos concursales, a pesar de la relevancia que actualmente se atribuye a la protección de la empresa en crisis mediante su saneamiento o rehabilitación. The financial crisis suffered by most of the industrialised have removed the foundations of bankruptcy law, especially as regards its elementary principles and functions. In this sense, the increase in the volume and complexity of business structures has had a notable impact on the recent reforms of bankruptcy law, which have tried to encourage the conservation function of bankruptcy proceedings. The purpose of this article is to analyze the dynamics in the configuration of the function of bankruptcy law present in the recent legislative interventions carried out by some European and Latin American countries. In order to achieve this objective, an analytical-descriptive method is basically used, through which the interpretative relevance of the function of bankruptcy law is justified, and it exposes the traditional functions attributed to bankruptcy law and the protagonism of the conservation function present in the latest bankruptcy reforms. From this, an economic-functional analysis of this trend is carried out, which allows to discover the tensions existing between the conservative function and the solution function of bankruptcy proceedings. From this perspective, we conclude on the need to prioritize the solution of bankruptcy proceedings, despite the relevance currently attributed to the protection of the company in difficulty through its reorganization or rehabilitation.

Les débats sur le comportement de financement de l’entreprise familiale ont tendance à se complexifier au fur et à mesure de leur occurrence. La diversité des résultats qui en découlent souvent en manque d’un consensus sur le détail et le caractère influent de ses facteurs constitutifs, en témoigne à suffisance. L’objectif de cet article est donc de mettre en lumière les facteurs d’incitation du financement par les dettes de ces entreprises dont les dirigeants sont souvent reconnus pour leur frilosité à l’égard de tout ce qui engendre la perte de propriété. L’approche hypothético-déductive et la procédure de tests d’homogénéité emboîtés sont mobilisées. Il se dégage des résultats obtenus que, la tangibilité de l’actif, le coût de la dette, la rentabilité économique et financière justifient le recours à l’endettement des entreprises familiales au Cameroun.

The right to health and the right to development are intertwined socio-economic rights that affect the well being and growth of a country’s populace. Most developing and least developed countries face challenges in ensuring access to essential medicines vis a vis the realisation of the right to health and full potential of development. Patents, provided for under the TRIPS Agreement are partly to blame for the lack of access to essential medicines as they account for the excessive pricing of medicines. Zimbabwe being a developing country currently facing dire economic and political challenges but being obliged under the International and Regional Human Rights Conventions it subscribed to, has to ensure the progressive realisation of the right to health and development. However, as a member of the TRIPS Agreement, there are limitations to the country’s ability to ensure access to medicines and healthcare for developmental purposes. This thesis has outlined the problematic provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and Zimbabwe’s attempt to use the flexibilities provided to its advantage. Zimbabwe has only put into use the flexibility of compulsory licensing and parallel importation to a limited extent; hence the recommendation that even though the country has domesticated the Agreement to its advantage, the country needs to explore other flexibilities comprehensively and promote the realisation of the rights to health and development.

La presente monografía analiza el régimen jurídico instaurado tras la entrada en vigor de la Ley 12/2021, de 28 de septiembre, por la que se modifica el texto refundido de la Ley del Estatuto de los Trabajadores, aprobado por el Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015, de 23 de octubre, para garantizar los derechos laborales de las personas dedicadas al reparto en el ámbito de las plataformas digitales, que añade una Disposición Adicional 23ª al texto del Estatuto de los Trabajadores, consagrando a nivel legal la presunción de laboralidad de las relaciones entre trabajador y empresa en el ámbito de las plataformas digitales de reparto. Además, la norma jurídica viene a modificar el artículo 64.4 del Estatuto de los Trabajadores, introduciendo un nuevo apartado bajo la letra d), ampliando así el derecho de información de los comités de empresa, en su condición de máximo órgano de representación del conjunto de los trabajadores. Por otra parte, el trabajo centrará sus esfuerzos en desgranar la adaptación o reformulación de los clásicos conceptos jurídicos de Derecho del Trabajo de dependencia y ajenidad, como características esenciales del trabajo asalariado o por cuenta ajena, frente al trabajo por cuenta propia, clave fundamental para determinar, en definitiva, la existencia o no de una relación de naturaleza laboral. Utilizando como principal referencia la Sentencia número 805/2020, de fecha 25 de septiembre de 2020, del Tribunal Supremo, Pleno de la Sala de lo Social (recurso número 4746/2020), en cuyos principios se ha inspirado la posterior norma jurídica, trataremos de analizar la evolución que han sufrido estos conceptos a raíz del imparable auge del modelo de relaciones laborales surgido a la sombra de la economía tecnológica y del entorno digital, especialmente, en el ámbito de las plataformas de reparto de mercancías y toda clase de productos de consumo.

It has been over a decade since the Companies Act 71 of 2008 introduced business rescue proceedings which provided for the rescue of financially distressed companies. This procedure replaced the then statutory procedure of judicial management under Companies Act 61 of 1973. The business rescue proceedings begin with the general moratorium or stay on legal proceedings against the company or its property. This has a consequence that any claims against the company may only be enforced with the consent of the business rescue practitioner or the leave of the court. However, the courts continue to grapple with the interpretation, effect, and application of the key elements of business rescue provisions while always striving to accord respect to the legislative intention of business rescue as set out in section 7(k) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. After a decade since its introduction, it is an opportune time to ascertain whether the business rescue proceedings is an effective corporate rescue procedure suitable to the modern-day demands of the South African economy. The research analyses the effect and the consequences of the moratorium on the rights of property owners. The moratorium has the effect that companies are given temporary immunity to actions brought by creditors which would have been due and enforceable. In this regard, the property leased by the property owner remains occupied by the company during business rescue proceedings as the property owner is barred by the moratorium to institute legal proceedings against the company. Further, when the repossession of the property is not possible and the rental due or installment is not payable by the company, the business rescue proceedings encroaches on the right of the property owners. The purpose of the research is to highlight the effect of the moratorium on the lease agreement between the company and property owners and the possible protection of the property owners’ rights. The study includes a critical analysis of judicial decisions on the moratorium, together with a discussion of the legal position in comparable foreign jurisdictions. In my conclusion, based on the findings, the business rescue is not free from imperfection. Therefore, I recommended that the legislature amend some parts of Chapter 6 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008.