Bibliographie sélective OHADA

It is trite that environmental challenges remain one of the major global concerns and no doubt of great impact on human existence and wellbeing. This impact is a result of human activities on the natural ecosystem. This article examines the legal framework by the Nigerian state in regulating the activities of the multinational investors in the oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta region of the country. It discusses the international, regional, and national legal framework in the protection of environment and environmental rights of the host community and foreign direct investment rights. The author demonstrates the imbalance in the protection of environmental and foreign direct investment rights from which suggestions are made towards correcting this injustice as caused by the existing legal framework.

L’avènement du système comptable OHADA est une innovation de grande envergure dans l’organisation de la profession comptable dont l’importance pour les gestionnaires des plus petites entreprises de l’informel ne souffre d’aucune contestation. Aujourd’hui, mieux qu’hier, il s’avère impossible de s’en passer dans la mesure où ce nouveau système de gestion constitue une panacée aux maux qui rongent l’organisation comptable dans les entreprises, d’où l’adaptation au changement est plus que nécessaire.

The paper aims to review the relation between Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Performance. We reviewed these variables and develop a Theoretical and Analytics framework. First introduction (study background, Problem Statement, Research Objectives and research questions). Second literature review (A) financial performance such as ROA, ROE, EPS and Tobin’s Q, (B) Corporate Governance as Board of Directors, Board Composition, CEO Duality and Board Size (C) Risk Management. Third, we discussed Underpinning Theories such as, Agency Theory and Institutional Theory. Fourth, we developed a Theoretical Framework where we illustrated (A) Corporate Governance and Financial Performance, (B) Risk Management and Financial Performance (C) Compliance with Accounting Standards and Financial Performance. Finally, we developed a comprehensive reviewing based on above variables.

This study aims to understand the accounting effects of the Corona pandemic in more depth and clarity, where the study explores the accounting choices during the pandemic period and the impact of the firm's strategic orientation and its social responsibility performance on those choices. Using data from non-financial Saudi companies, the accounting choices divided into aggressive accounting strategy and conservative accounting strategy, and regression models used to examine the study hypotheses. The results of the study provide a clearer and in-depth vision about the nature of accounting practices during the pandemic and indicated that business strategy affects accounting choices, while corporate social responsibility does not affect. The results can imply useful information for the market regulators that help them in controlling and stabilizing the market, as well as for professional accounting organizations to help them issue guidelines for accounting work during crises.

The procedure of liquidation of assets can be closed for the extinction of liabilities or for insufficient assets. The court may then, at the request of any interested person or ex officio, at any time during the proceedings and after a report by the official receiver, close the proceedings. In case of insufficiency of assets, the business disappears and, perhaps, the hope of any payment to creditors as well. For a long time, it was accepted that the closure for lack of assets allows creditors to resume individual proceedings against the debtor, especially if the latter returns to better circumstances. This traditional solution has been abandoned. According to OHADA Uniform Act on the organisation of collective procedures for the settlement of liabilities, revised on 10 December 2015, closure for insufficiency of assets no longer automatically gives creditors the right to take individual action. Thus, when a liquidation leads to a shortage of assets, the satisfaction of creditors remains uncertain. The objective of this study is to show that despite this reform, the protection of creditors’ rights has not changed significantly in the event of insufficient assets. Indeed, any possible recourse to the recovery of their claims remains paralysed by certain measures that infringe their rights. The infringements can be described as severe or moderate depending on the case.

International investment law is facing a legitimacy crisis, in which to tackle, substantial efforts are being made in structural and procedural areas. The first step to overcoming this crisis is identifying the roots of it. The lack of a dynamic balance between public and private interests is one of the main factors creating this legitimacy crisis in this legal system.[1] This paper focuses on the changes in the investment arbitration jurisprudence to create this balance. The findings of this paper can explain one of the convergence points of international trade and investment law. Such a claim is based on the evolution of international trade law in facing a similar legitimacy issue and the structural-procedural approach of this legal system in balancing public and private interests as an ultimate solution to the crisis.[2] From this perspective, one of the major factors in creating a legitimacy crisis in both legal systems is the dominance of the paradigm for preference of private interests; and one of the convergence points of international trade and investment law has been to replace it by accepting the paradigm of creating a dynamic balance between competing goals.[3] This paper examines this convergence in arbitral jurisprudence.IntroductionIn recent years, the legitimacy crisis of the regime of international investment law and, as a result, the investor-state dispute settlement system has been one of the most important and controversial topics in the academic environment and the practice of states consequently, serious efforts in various fields to tackle this crisis have begun. According to this paper, choosing an arbitration mechanism modeled on international commercial arbitration to resolve disputes between host states and foreign investors can be evaluated as a wrong and hasty action that, regardless of its factors and contexts, has changed the nature and function of this system over time.[4] It should be noted that the main factor in such consequences is how this dispute resolution system is used which, contrary to the accepted model, always puts the host states in a "respondent" position in possible future disputes and, as a result, disrupts the balance expected in any international dispute settlement system. On this basis, the confrontation of the host state's sovereign competence in ensuring public interests with the foreign investors’ ability to challenge this competence is brought into the spotlight: currently, within the regime of international investment law, host states have only responsibilities and obligations in contrast to extensive and exclusive rights and privileges recognized for foreign investors, and this can be considered as the most important factor disturbing the said balance. The main issue in this field is to analyze the role of the investment arbitral tribunals in creating such a balance. In this regard, the authors, by focusing on the nature of investment treaties, and the relations between the parties in investment disputes and with emphasis on the general legal regime governing international investment, consider creating a dynamic balance between public and private interests to be the key to solving the crisis. They emphasize that; As long as the rights and obligations of the parties to the dispute are based on imbalanced grounds, the change in nature of the disputes and the function of the system -as the main roots of this legitimacy crisis - will remain. In this remark, it is very important to focus on the two-sided nature (public-private) of the relationships established in the framework of investment treaties. The relationship between the host state and the foreign investor is created within the framework of investment treaties and in light of fundamental differences from purely private relationships in international commercial arbitration.[5] Note that any dispute arising from this relationship is affected by its inherently public nature governed by public international law.[6] Thus, a purely private attitude towards these relations does not seem viable. As Ian Brownlie has stated in the case of SME v. the Czech Republic, it can lead to ignoring some of the basic elements of the relevant investment treaty.[7] In other words, the right and duty of the host state in protecting and promoting public interests is a fundamental part of this relationship, and any indulgence of it leads to a serious disruption of the mentioned balance through which the system's legitimacy will be the first victim.It is clear that the main task of any dispute resolution system is to create such a balance, and on this basis, and compared to the WTO dispute resolution system, the role of the investment tribunals in this process is discussed. This jurisprudential convergence is in line with the goal of strengthening the legitimacy of the international investment law system as a whole.Based on the above, the first part of this paper focuses on the process of establishing the ISDS in international investment law and its characteristics, the factors of the crisis of legitimacy are analyzed with an analytical approach, while also explaining the nature of investment treaties and explaining the general legal regime governing international investment. Furthermore, the lack of a dynamic balance between public and private interests is emphasized as the main cause of the crisis. In the second part, while comparing the two legal systems of international trade and investment with a similar crisis of legitimacy, we will examine the interaction of investment arbitration with the WTO's jurisprudence in facing this crisis through a case study of several investment arbitral awards. [1]. David Gaukrodger, “The Balance between Investor Protection and the Right to Regulate in Investment Treaties: A Scooping Paperˮ, OECD Working Paper on International Investment 2017/02, at 4.[2]. Nicholas DiMascio & Joost Pauwelyn, “Non-Discrimination in Trade and Investment Treaties: Worlds apart or Two Sides of the Same Coin?”, AJIL, Vol. 102, No.1, (2008), at 89.[3]. Jurgen Kurtz and Sungioon Cho, “Convergence and Divergence in International Economic Law and Politics”, EJIL, Vol. 20, No. 1, (2018), at 187.[4]. Benedict Kingsbury & Stephan W. Schill, “Public Law Concepts to Balance Investor's Rights with State Regulatory Actions in the Public Interest - The Concept of Proportionalityˮ, In Schill Stephan W., International Investment Law and Comparative Public Law (UK: Oxford University Press, 2010) at 76. [5]. Crina Baltag, “Reforming The ISDS System: In Search of a Balanced Approach?ˮ, Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2, (2019), at 285.[6]. Ibid.[7]. Andreas Kulick, “Sneaking Through Backdoor – Reflections on Public Interest in International Investment Arbitrationˮ, Arbitration International, Vol. 29, No. 3, (2013), at 438.

Cet article, est une contribution à la réflexion sur le statut de l’arbitre en droit OHADA, entamée par plusieurs chercheurs africains, et au centre de laquelle se trouve la problématique de l’immunité en droit de l’arbitrage OHADA. Le débat sur le choix d’un système d’immunité et la définition d’un véritable statut pour l’arbitre est toujours d’actualité. Cet article fait le point global des approches et conceptions sur l’immunité diplomatique des arbitres de la CCJA. En effet, le débat sur la responsabilité touche de façon étroite celui du statut de l’arbitre : la responsabilité étant la résultante d’un statut, cela nous permettra d’aborder la question du statut juridique de l’arbitre en droit OHADA. Dans un contexte où les différentes législations, la jurisprudence ou encore les conventions internationales, n’abordent que très peu le statut de l’arbitre, la détermination des éléments permettant de préciser les contours des devoirs, droits et obligations de l’arbitre, contribuera de façon certaine à mieux appréhender la mission de l’arbitre.

The courthouses are, in our states, the places of legal reading - a culture constantly policed and hardened by jurisprudence and praetorian practices; themselves difficult to abandon notwithstanding the pressure and scope of new laws didn’t stop swelling. Indeed, legal practitioners are still unable to agree on the foundations, perception, conceptualization and implementation procedure of this important judicial institution. Certainly, the fog that hung over the identification of the « article 49 judge » in the Congolese judicial system is now lifted. However, this is not the case for appeals against decisions of the presidential court which, in principle, are provisionally enforceable and sometimes, on the spot. In addition, differences of opinion subsist as to the form of the act carrying the defense to be executed. So many problematic questions around which this reflection is articulated; but in a fairly limited format given the presentation requirements of a scientific article. Les palais de justice sont, dans nos Etats, les hauts lieux de la culture juridique – culture sans cesse policée et durcie par la jurisprudence et les pratiques prétoriennes; elles-mêmes difficiles à abandonner nonobstant la pression et la portée des lois nouvelles. Depuis l’adhésion de la République démocratique du Congo à l’OHADA – et nonobstant la supralégalité du droit uniforme africain des affaires – la polémique sur les défenses à exécuter n’a pas cessé d’enfler. En effet, les praticiens du droit n’arrivent toujours pas à s’accorder sur les fondements, la perception, la conceptualisation et la procédure de mise en œuvre de cette importante institution judiciaire. Certes, le brouillard qui planait sur l’identification du « Juge de l’article 49 » dans le système judiciaire congolais est aujourd’hui levé. Il n’en est pas cependant le cas des régimes d’appel contre les décisions de la juridiction présidentielle qui, par principe, sont exécutoires par provision et, parfois, sur minute. Par ailleurs, des divergences de vues subsistent quant à la forme de l’acte emportant la défense à exécuter. Autant des questions problématiques autour desquelles s’articule cette réflexion; mais dans un format assez limité compte tenu des exigences de présentation d’un article scientifique.

Since the earlier indirect Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions failed to hold investors responsible for human rights abuses, the recent hardening process of direct CSR clauses has resulted in incorporating CSR clauses under sections or chapters entitled “investors obligations” and tying CSR obligations to binding human rights and environmental prohibitions, as well as to human rights obligations established by the host state's legislation. This paper provides a non-exhaustive analysis of recent developments in treaty practice based on research primarily sourced from investment agreements concluded between 2012 and 2021, doctrinal input, and normative analysis. As shown in this paper the hardening process has not yet been completed, and reformations are necessary. Specifically, new investment agreements should enshrine investor human rights obligations as legally binding obligations, consider violations of these CSR obligations as part of investment disputes and provide direct remedies to victims. This study contributes to the literature on the international responsibility of TNCs with regard to human rights by examining the process of hardening up the CSR obligations within investment agreements as an approach that could lead to effective human rights protection.

La théorie du temps juridique est une question fondamentale de la théorie générale du contrat. Elle postule que soit mis en exergue le temps dans les rapports au contrat. Le législateur OHADA a conçu les Actes uniformes de sorte à montrer l’emprise du temps sur le contrat, de sa formation innervée par la négociation précontractuelle à son extinction, sans occulter le temps d’exigibilité de l’obligation qui peut se situer soit dans la négociation précontractuelle, dans l’exécution du contrat, soit dans la période post contractuelle. Ainsi, peut-on distinguer les contrats présents, les contrats futurs et l’après-contrat. Le temps du contrat a généré les contrats à exécution instantanée et les contrats à exécution successive. A l’exécution du contrat, on note que le contrat est imprégné de nombreuses notions telles : le terme, la durée, la suspension, le renouvellement, la prorogation, le délai de grâce, le délai raisonnable, la prescription, la bonne foi, la prévisibilité et l’imprévision. A l’analyse, la valeur qu’accorde le législateur OHADA au temps contractuel l’a conduit à lui assigner une double fonction. D’une part, le temps contractuel est un pilier de la sécurité juridique ; d’autre part, il est un ressort de l’efficacité économique du contrat.

O objetivo do trabalho foi identificar tendências de investigações científicas, publicadas no período de 2008 a 2020, sobre a aplicação das International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) nos países africanos. Por meio de uma revisão da literatura, foram analisados, em particular, os tópicos abordados, motivos e teorias aplicadas nos estudos. As fontes de recolha de dados foram as bases de dados da Emerald Insiht e Sience Direct. A amostra consiste em 31 artigos extraídos das revistas internacionais de contabilidade que publicaram sobre a adoção, compliance e consequências das IFRS no continente africano. Ainda que tenham ocorrido numerosas variações na aplicação dos normativos internacionais, principalmente relacionados à conformidade, a maioria dos países africanos tem adotado às normas IFRS. No entanto, mesmo que a maioria tenha prolongado a implementação das IFRS, os resultados apontam que a adoção das mesmas gera criação de vantagens competitivas e integração para os mercados globais. Concluiu-se que: (i) a regulamentação institucional limita a aplicação das IFRS na África; (ii) as práticas contábeis são influenciadas pelos ambientes externos e internos da organização institucional; (iii) elas devem ser baseadas em decisões racionais e nas crenças das instituições. Por fim, os achados apontam as influências culturais como justificativas da forma escalonada de como os países do mundo, não somente africanos, vem adotando às normas IFRS.

The processes by which a model of social regulation channels its way of resolving conflicts make the strength of its conflict resolution system. Court justice has lost its exemplary function. The crisis of effectiveness and the crisis of legitimacy that the processual mode of dispute resolution is undergoing in our States, make it a justice system that is considered to have broken down. The need for justice thus directly raises the question of social regulation, the relevant model of social regulation. The call for a ‘right to sue’ open to the system of alternative dispute resolution rather than restrictively to the judiciary to resolve disagreements is the spearhead of the combinatorial approach to the administration of conflicts, the ferment of a plural approach to access to justice. Has Cameroonian law begun to renew its vision of the right to take legal action? Does it renew the dominant classical approach to the system of social regulation? The study notes the global and integral recognition of the alternative dispute resolution system, another, less contentious, way of dealing with disputes, the emergence within the traditional dispute resolution system of a right to amicable dispute resolution, but in an embryonic state. It then poses, in a prospective approach, the need for a unitary and global approach to private justice as challenges to be met to ensure the quality of this form of justice.

Le recours à l’arbitrage en matière des litiges contractuels entre des parties privées présente des avantages par rapport aux procédures devant les tribunaux. Les avantages de l’arbitrage qui a une valeur particulière en matière contractuelle se multiplient : les arbitres peuvent être choisis en raison de leurs compétences spéciales selon le sujet du contrat; la confidentialité peut être préservée; l’arbitrage peut être utilisé pour régler des questions sur le même sujet ou des sujets semblables mais survenant dans des pays différents, ceci peut présenter l'avantage de régler en une seule fois tous les différends entre les parties, surtout en matière de commerce.

Dans une économie de plus en plus globalisée, faute d’harmonisation juridique, les parties aux litiges contractuels n’hésitent plus à consulter les forums juridiques pour identifier les pays susceptibles de leur offrir le meilleur niveau de protection. Presque tous les litiges en matière contractuels se prêtent au début des conflits à la médiation. Il arrive souvent que lors d’un litige relatif aux droits contractuels, les parties recourent à la médiation. Cependant, pour pouvoir y recourir de manière utile, il est important d’éluder certains obstacles. Un litige ayant trait à un contrat, soulève des questions complexes de faits et de droit, peut nécessiter des dépenses importantes et exiger la présence de témoins experts. Puisque l’obligation contractuelle émise sera presque toujours un enjeu, un litige ayant trait au commerce, notamment international, commande une connaissance approfondie de la législation sur les objets de transactions, ainsi qu’une expérience des tribunaux qui traitent la plupart du temps de ces questions. En pratique, l’espace de rencontre entre la médiation et les litiges contractuels est le contrat lui-même. Or, le domaine contractuel est le domaine privilégié de la médiation. En réalité, la médiation peut avoir lieu dans les relations liée aux contrats de commerce, dans lequel une dévolution des droits contractuels est prévue. Ce mode alternatif fournit un moyen pour éviter les contentieux judiciaires.

This paper discusses the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main purpose is to highlight and clarify the gaps between CSR regulations and human rights abuses caused by business organizations.

The health of a country’s banking system is a key determinant to the development of the country. A fragile banking system portends danger not only to the financial system but the entire economy. This study investigates the state of the Nigerian banking system in terms of stability or fragility from 1981 to 2020. We used the banking system fragility index (BSFI) proposed by Kibritçioğlu (2003) to analyze Nigerian banking industry aggregate data from three risk areas: credit, market and liquidity. We estimated that out of the 40 years examined, the banking system was fragile for 23 years given their BSFI less than 0 while it was not fragile for 17 years with BSFI = 0 or greater. We found that most of the years when the Nigerian banking system was fragile were periods of relaxed monetary policies, deregulation and credit expansion. Secondly, the years of banking system stability were when the county’s banking system was subjected to stiff regulation and consolidation. Given the number of years that the system was fragile, we observed that sustained economic growth and development requires that the banking system remain strong as long as possible, and that the Nigerian situation could not promote this important objective. We recommend that the financial regulatory authorities put in place more stringent policies as banks are more fragile during the deregulation of the banking industry.

Recent scandals have brought rankings to the forefront of the legal profession. Several of the most prestigious academic institutions have withdrawn from being ranked, citing the problematic nature of the rankings. However, rankings persist for both legal academics and practice, and there is substantial sentiment to improve the methodologies, with little detail as to how to improve. In this paper, we rank law firms on their clients’ IPO performance. We focus on the most relevant outcomes: litigation, first-day returns, disclosure, and legal fees. The focus on these measures provides benefits relative to other methodologies, which typically focus on inputs or size-related characteristics. Namely, this ranking is less manipulable and more accurately captures performance metrics that matter most to clients’ shareholders. Our rankings control for observable and unobservable deal characteristics, which helps ensure we capture law firm quality, not client traits. With the rankings based on legal fees, potential clients can compare the benefits of a particular law firm (e.g., lower litigation or higher selling prices) against the additional cost of hiring a higher-quality law firm. Hence, our rankings allow for a value-for-the-money comparison of law firms for clients selling shares in an IPO.