Bibliographie sélective OHADA

The OHADA accounting framework is not immune from the choice of accounting policies for intangible assets. The need to make an accounting choice for intangible assets depends on a number of factors. This article aims to identify the motivations of managers in the choice of accounting for intangible assets. In a second step, we described the methodological approach of our work. Thus, we proceeded to the empirical study which is both qualitative and quantitative. The collected data was then analyzed. From the companies' case, it was found that the tax reasons, the accounting principles, the logic of obtaining the loans, the follow-up of the practice of the competitors, the implementation of the recommendations of audit, the sense of limiting the wage demands are pushing executives to make accounting choices for intangible assets.

The Organisation for Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) was established in October 1993 with the ambitious aim of inciting economic development in its Member States. Through the adoption of Uniform Commercial Laws, the organisation is expected to create an enabling environment for business development, thereby providing for a path to economic growth and subsequent development. In light of this professed aim, both the transnational methodological approach and comparative law theories are used in this paper to critically analyse the various processes conducted under the OHADA banner and to engage in discussions on the highly debated role of law as a vehicle for development in sub-Saharan Africa. This exercise, which proves crucial in order to trace its origin within the global governance and law and development theories, allows us to present OHADA as a transnational legal system, while also highlighting both its strengths and limitations.

تقوم عمليّة تحويل الفواتير على تحويل حقوق من مالكها إلى مؤسّسة ماليّة متخصّصة (وسيط)، التي تتكفّل بتحصيل هذه الحقوق، في إطار عقد، مع تحمّل الخسائر المحتملة الناتجة عن إعسار المدينين. وعندما تكتسي هذه العملية الطابع الدّولي، تظهر صعوبات مرتبطة بالشكوك التي تدور حول القانون واجب التطبيق، والتي من شأنها عرقلة تطوّر العمليّة ذات الأهميّة البالغة في التجارة الدّوليّة، من هنا، تظهر أهميّة تبنّي قواعد موحّدة لتنظيم عمليّة تحويل الفواتير الدّوليّة. ومهما كان القانون واجب التطبيق على عمليّة تحويل الفواتير الدّوليّة، فإنّها تساهم في تنمية التجارة الدّوليّة بفضل تدخّل الشركات المتخصّصة فيها وتنظيمها في شكل سلاسل لتشجيع المؤسسات الصغيرة والمتوسطة على القيام بعمليات التصدير، خاصّة وأنّ هذه الأخيرة معرّضة للأخطار المرتبطة بالتجارة الدّوليّة، وبفضل الخدمات التي تؤديها العمليّة، ألا وهي تمويل الصادرات وضمانها L’affacturage est une technique qui consiste à céder des créances à un établissement de crédit spécialisé (le factor), qui prend en charge le recouvrement de ces créances dans le cadre d’un contrat, en supportant les pertes éventuelles sur les débiteurs insolvables. Et lorsque de telles opérations sont conduites au niveau international, surgissent des difficultés liées à l’incertitude juridique pouvant entraver l’essor de cette opération fort utile dans le commerce international, d’où l’utilité d’adopter des règles uniformes destinées à régir les opérations d’affacturage international. Mais quelque soit la loi applicable à l’affacturage international, celui-ci contribue au développement du commerce international grâce à l’intervention des factors qui s’organisent sous forme de chaines pour encourager les PME à exporter, surtout que ces dernières sont confrontées aux risques liés au commerce international, et grâce aux services que fournit l’opération, en l’occurrence; le financement et la garantie des exportations.

O conceito jurídico de renda para fins de tributação suscita debates no Brasil há décadas, o que se pode verificar por meio dos diversos trabalhos doutrinários exclusivamente dedicados ao assunto, bem como por vários acórdãos proferidos pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF). Essa constatação parece afastar qualquer possibilidade de que essa temática seja abordada de forma inédita, com a capacidade de contribuir originalmente à ciência do direito. No entanto, o atual momento reclama uma nova análise acerca da definição de renda tributável. Em primeiro lugar, porque a edição da Lei n° 11.638/07 determinou que a contabilidade brasileira se alinhe ao padrão contábil aceito internacionalmente, representando pelas International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS. Sendo assim, se o resultado contábil representa o ponto de partida para a apuração do lucro tributável das pessoas jurídicas, qualquer alteração sobre o lucro líquido tem o potencial de causar efeitos tributários, a menos que o legislador se encarregue de neutralizá-los ou discipliná-los. A singeleza dessa constatação esconde o fato de que as recentes (e contínuas) alterações contábeis não representam apenas uma mudança de entendimento acerca do registro de determinadas operações, mas verdadeira alteração no paradigma adotado pelas regras contábeis. O padrão IFRS trabalha essencialmente com expectativas, por meio de uma intensa relação entre eventos passados e o valor presente dos prováveis efeitos futuros. Para tanto, há uma forte preocupação com a substância econômica, que deve prevalecer sobre a forma jurídica sempre que se verificar a presença de um conflito. De acordo com o padrão contábil internacional, accounting follows economics, o que significa dizer que o registro contábil passa a ter como referência a visão da contabilidade sobre a realidade econômica. Como consequência, a contabilidade passa a se distanciar do direito, seja porque os negócios jurídicos já ocorridos serão escriturados de acordo com premissas essencialmente contábeis, seja porque não mais se reporta a situação patrimonial relativa a um momento pretérito, mas à melhor estimativa atual sobre o que se espera que irá ocorrer no futuro. Veja-se que enquanto o imposto de renda tem como fato gerador uma renda adquirida no passado, a contabilidade passa a considerar os efeitos de uma capacidade de auferir renda no futuro, ainda que ela não tenha se realizado, sendo suficiente a expectativa de que isso venha a acontecer. Esse pressuposto conflita diretamente com a realização, que passa a não mais ser necessária para o reconhecimento de mutações patrimoniais contábeis, situação idêntica a que acontece com a economia. Por essa razão, é necessário que a histórica relação entre o resultado contábil e a base de cálculo do imposto de renda seja (re)avaliada, de modo a se estabelecer um critério seguro a respeito da possibilidade (e de quais seriam os limites) de as novas regras contábeis afetarem a base de cálculo do imposto de renda das pessoas jurídicas. Esse propósito somente pode ser atingido se todos os atributos do conceito jurídico de renda tiverem sido previamente definidos, única forma de analisar, com rigor científico, se determinadas características da tributação da renda, tradicionalmente presentes na legislação tributária, podem ser relativizadas. Em outras palavras, é necessário que se identifique quais são os atributos indissociavelmente ligados ao conceito jurídico de renda. O momento não poderia ser considerado mais oportuno, pois a existência de um processo internacional de convergência ao padrão contábil internacional faz com que a doutrina estrangeira também discuta esse assunto, o que pode enriquecer o debate nacional. The legal definition of income taken into account for tax purposes has been a very controversial matter in Brazil for over decades. The innumerous works exclusively dedicated to the subject produced by tax scholars, as well as the several decisions handed down by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) endorse the debate regarding the legal concept of taxable income. This fact could seem to rule out any possibility of addressing the subject in an unprecedented way, that is, with the ability of being an original contribution to the science of law. However, the current moment calls for a new analysis over the definition of taxable income. Initially because the enactment of the Brazilian Law n. 11.638/11 determined that Brazilian accounting should be in line with the internationally accepted accounting standards, stated by the International Financial Reporting Standards - IRFS. Therefore, if the accounting result is the starting point for obtaining the taxable income of legal entities, any accounting changes over the net income has the potential of causing tax effects, unless the legislator frames norms to neutralize these effects. It is important to mention that the simplicity of this remark hides the fact that the recent (and continuous) accounting changes represents not only a modification of the understanding regarding the accounting records of certain transactions, but a true change of the paradigm adopted by the accounting rules. In essence, the IFRS has an 'expectation approach' in the setting of standards, through an analysis of the relationship between past events and the present value of probable future events. As a result, the IFRS has a solid concern with the economic substance, which, under the framework, shall prevail over the legal form whenever there is a conflict between them. According to the international accounting standards, accounting follows economics, that is, the accounting record should reflect the economic reality. As a consequence, the accounting results will differ from the tax law concepts, either because legal transactions that have already occurred in the past will be recorded in accordance with essentially accounting premises, or because the accounting results will no longer report wealth with reference to a moment in the past, yet with reference to the current best estimate of what it is expected to occur in the future. It is worth highlighting that the taxable event for income tax purposes is the income earned in the past, while the accounting result takes into account the effects of a future income-earning capacity, even though the income has not yet been realized. Therefore, for the accounting assessment it is sufficient that the mere expectation of earning the income will occur. This last assumption conflicts directly with the realization principle, due to the fact that under accounting premises, realization is no longer necessary for the recognition of changes in wealth, likewise the measurement is made in the field of economics. For this reason, it is necessary to (re)evaluate the historical relationship between the accounting result and the taxable base of the income tax, as to establish a reliable criteria regarding the possibility (and the eventual limits) of having the new accounting rules as a basis for the assessment of the taxable income base of corporations. This purpose can only be achieved if the law has previously defined all the attributes of the legal concept of income, the only way to analyze, with scientific rigor, if certain characteristics of income taxation, traditionally present in the tax legislation, can be relativized. In other words, it is necessary to identify the attributes inextricably linked to the legal concept of income. The moment could not be considered more convenient, considering that the existence of a global process of convergence to the international accounting standards raises debates about the subject in the foreign academic literature, which can enhance the national debate as well.

Madagascar classé parmi les pays moins avancés et se trouvant en situation précaire a bénéficié des aides venant de nombreux bailleurs, bilatéraux et multilatéraux, traditionnels ou nouveaux pour financer pour l’appuyer à mettre en œuvre son programme de développement.Depuis son indépendance jusqu’à ce jour, il n’a cessé de recevoir des aides publiques au développement. Pourtant, jusqu’à ce jour sa situation ne s’améliore guère. L’adoption en 2005 de la Déclaration de Paris (DP) lors du forum de haut niveau par le CAD de l’OCDE a instauré une nouvelle orientation politique plus centrée sur la promotion de l’harmonisation et la coordination des politiques d’aides pour atteindre l’efficacité de toutes les actions menant à une stabilité mais également à un développement durable. Conscient des défis à relever, Madagascar s’est engagé dans cette démarche de mise en cohérence des politiques et d’harmonisation des pratiques. Il est un des cinquante pays qui ont adopté et signé cette déclaration. Cette orientation politique devait donner un souffle et recommande les partenaires techniques et financiers (PTF) à fédérer et travailler ensemble réellement pour que les aides soient vraiment un outil de développement non plus un problème du pays bénéficiaire. La dernière déclaration faite à Busan sur l’efficacité de l’aide en 2011 souligne encore sur cet aspect .Aussi, depuis 2005 le Gouvernement malgache avec l’appui de l’ensemble de ses PTF, bailleurs de fonds, a décidé de mettre en place un agenda pour l’horizon 2015. Cet agenda, une sorte de feuille de route, fixe les grandes étapes que les acteurs devraient suivre pour instaurer des mécanismes de gestion harmonisés et coordonnés des aides publiques au développement. Ce sont des cadres incitatifs de partenariat entre bailleurs et Gouvernement que ce dernier tente d’instaurer. Ces actions ont débuté par la mise en œuvre des réformes pour rendre fiables les systèmes nationaux et regagner la confiance des PTF. Par la suite, il a été procédé à la mise en place d’un organe de coordination et des mécanismes de suivi-évaluation nationale et conjointe des politiques publiques et celles des aides extérieures. Parallèlement, au niveau de chaque secteur , il est cherché l’adaptation des approches dans le but d’aller dans le sens de cette nouvelle orientation politique. Dans la pratique, ces démarches ne sont pas faciles à appliquer et des difficultés sont ressenties tant politiques que techniques. C’est ce qui engendre le désordre dans la cartographie nationale de l’aide et la méfiance dans l’application des cinq principes de mise en cohérence : Appropriation, Alignement, Harmonisation, Gestion accès sur les résultats et responsabilités mutuels connu sous le sigle d’harmonisation.L’instabilité causée par la survenance de la crise de 2009 a ralenti le processus bien enclenché bien que les résultats obtenus ont été encourageants. En effet, l’évaluation de la mise en œuvre de la DP en 2010 a évoqué une baisse de performance par rapport à celle de 2008. La recherche de complémentarité, de synergie entre les bailleurs avec comme facteurs de réussite l’appropriation des politiques sont les défis à relever. Le maintien des acquis s’avèrerait important pour éviter le recul et le retour des anciennes pratiques non adaptées à la politique de coopération internationale pour le développement . De même, du côté des autorités malgaches l’attention doit être focalisée sur le comment instaurer un climat et environnement administratif et économique sain pour regagner la confiance des acteurs nationaux de développement et les bailleurs de fonds. Madagascar among less advanced countries in a precarious situation has benefited aids from many donors, bilateral and multilateral, traditional or new ones, to finance its development program implementation.Since its independence, it has not stopped receiving such public aids for development. However, no improvement has occurred up to now. In 2005, the adoption of the Paris Declaration during the High Level Forum by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC-OECD) established a new political orientation based on promoting harmonisation and coordinating aid policies to ensure efficiency of all actions for a sustainable stability and development. Being aware of the challenges to take up, Madagascar enrolled in the process of ensuring the politics and practise harmonization consistency. It is one of the fifty countries that adopted and signed for this declaration. The above political orientation had to provide a breath of fresh air and recommends to the technical and financial partners (PTFs) to really unite and work together so that aids could be an actual development tool and no more a problem for the beneficiary country. The last Busan Aid Effectiveness Declaration in 2011 still emphasizes this aspect .Therefore, since 2005, the malgache government with the support of all its PTFs, donors, has decided to put an agenda in place for the 2015 horizon. This agenda, a sort of roadmap, fixes the important steps that the players should follow to establish harmonized and coordinated managing mechanism of the public development aids. It is a partnership incentive between donors and government that the latter tries to establish. Those actions began with the reform implementation to make the national system reliable and to win back the PTFs’ confidence. Therefore, the implementation of the coordinating entity and the mechanism of national monitoring survey joint with public policies and external aids has been processed. Simultaneously, at each sector’s level, the approach adaptation has been searched to be in agreement with this new political orientation. In practice, these processes are not easy to carry out and some difficulties are politically and technically experienced. This engenders disorder in the national aid mapping and suspicion in the application of the five consistency principles: Ownership, Alignment, Harmonisation, Managing for results and Mutual accoutability known as harmonisation.The instability caused by the 2009 crisis occurrence has slowed down the well engaged process despite the promising results. In fact, the 2010 DP implementation survey evoked a performance decrease if compared to that of 2008. The search for complementary feature, for synergy between financial donor(s) with politics appropriation as a factor in the success are the challenges. Knowledge keeping would be important to prevent from regression and coming back to the old practices that are not adapted to the international cooperation for the development . In the same way, the malgache authority should more focalize their attention to the way how to regain the national development players’ and the donors’ trust.

During the last two decades, there have been a number of policy and legislative changes in respect of South Africa’s intellectual property (IP) and the national system of innovation (NSI). In 2012, a Ministerial Review of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in South Africa made recommendations to improve the STI landscape and effectively the national system of innovation. The study provides a critical review of drafts of the national IP policy published in 2013 as well as the IP Framework released in 2016 for public comment. The review of the IP and the NSI are within the context of the National Development Plan (NDP), which outlines South Africa’s desired developmental goals. South Africa is part of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The South African economy is characterised by a desire to move away from being dependent on resources and commodities, to becoming a more knowledge based and innovation driven economy. It is hoped that such a move would assist the country to address some of the social and economic development challenges facing South Africa, as captured in the NDP. South Africa has a functioning IP system, but its relationship with South Africa’s development trajectory is not established. More particularly, the extent to which the IP system relates to the innovation system and how these two systems must be aligned to enable South Africa to transition successfully from a country based on the production of primary resources and associated commodity-based industries to a viable knowledge-based economy is unclear. The Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provides that IP must contribute to innovation and to transfer of technology and knowledge in a manner that is conducive to social and economic welfare. Certain provisions set out the foundations of intellectual property systems within the context of each member state. This study has thus explored the complex, complementary and sometimes contested relationships between IP and innovation, with particular emphasis on the potential of an intellectual property system to stimulate innovation and foster social and economic development. The study has also analysed the interconnectivity of IP and innovation with other WTO legal instruments, taking into account South Africa’s positioning within the globalised economy and in particular the BRICS group of countries. The research involved a critical review of South Africa’s IP and innovation policies, as well as relevant legislation, instruments, infrastructure, IP and innovation landscape, and relationship with international WTO legal instruments, in addition to its performance, given the developmental priorities and the globalised economy. The research documents patenting trends by South Africans using European Patent Office (EPO), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) databases over the period 1996-2015. A comparative analysis of patenting trends amongst BRICS group of countries has also been documented. The study also documents new findings, observations and insights regarding South Africa’s IP and innovation systems. Some of these, particularly in relation to higher education and research institutions, are directly attributable to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act. More particularly, the public institutions are becoming relevant players in the NSI and are responsible for growth of certain technology clusters, in particular, biotechnology. At the same time, the study makes findings of a decline of private sector participation in patenting as well as R&D investment over the 20-year period. Recommendations are included regarding specific interventions to ensure coherence between the IP and innovation systems. Such coherence and alignment should strengthen the systems’ ability to stimulate innovation and foster inclusive development and competitiveness, which are relevant for addressing South Africa’s socio-economic development priorities.

O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar uma análise sistematizada acerca da proteção à propriedade intelectual no Brasil frente às necessidades específicas da indústria da moda. Este trabalho pretende realizar contribuição original à ciência jurídica brasileira não apenas com relação ao debate, ainda não realizado da forma aqui proposta quanto à indústria específica em âmbito acadêmico no Brasil, mas também realizar reflexão consistente quanto às consequências das particularidades e das demandas que cada vez mais buscam uma resposta eficiente do sistema jurídico. O sistema jurídico brasileiro parece oferecer à indústria da moda mecanismos suficientes para a proteção das criações da indústria. Este trabalho demonstrará tal conclusão por meio de análise dos resultados empíricos da pesquisa jurisprudencial realizada. Vale dizer que criações que não encontram proteção por meio do que há disponível no sistema jurídico brasileiro podem ter sido deixadas descobertas intencionalmente pelo legislador, a fim de que se encontre medida balanceada para observar a geração e a manutenção de incentivos para a criação e a inovação, de um lado, e o resguardo do objetivo de tutelar a concorrência, de outro lado. O resultado disso pode ser visto como o objetivo maior, trazido pela Constituição Federal, de progresso social e cultural e de desenvolvimento tecnológico e econômico do país, por meio do incentivo à inovação e da proteção equilibrada.

La présente thèse vise à décrire et analyser l’évolution ambigüe du rapport Souveraineté-Intégration dans les cadres européen et africain. A cet effet, elle révèle qu’un tel rapport est part d’un antagonisme de principe entre Souveraineté et Intégration mais débouche cependant sur des réalités différentes qui sont fonction du contexte précis de mise en application de cette relation. En effet, si au départ, on peut noter une certaine convergence de vue en Europe et en Afrique sur la nature antagonique des rapports entre Souveraineté et Intégration ; à l’arrivée, la pratique de l’intégration ne semble pas avoir conduit aux mêmes effets quant au sort de la souveraineté étatique dans les cadres européen et africain. En réalité, alors que la souveraineté de l’Etat a été fortement amoindrie par l’intégration dans l’UE, confirmant ainsi largement leur antagonisme de départ ; du côté africain, cette hypothèse initiale d’antagonisme a plutôt été compromise par la pratique car dans l’UEMOA et l’OHADA, l’opposition entre souveraineté et intégration s’est avérée largement ineffective. This thesis aims to describe and analyze the ambiguous evolution of the Sovereignty-Integration report in the European and African frameworks. To this end, it reveals that such a relation started from an antagonism of principle between Sovereignty and Integration but nevertheless leads to different realities that depend on the precise context of the application of this relation. Indeed, while at the outset one can note a certain convergence of view in Europe and in Africa on the antagonistic nature of the relations between Sovereignty and Integration; the practice of integration seems to have led to contradictory effects on the fate of state sovereignty in the European and African frameworks. In facts, whereas sovereignty of States has been greatly diminished by integration in the EU, thus largely confirming their initial antagonism ; on the African side, this initial hypothesis of antagonism has rather been compromised by practice because in UEMOA and OHADA, the opposition between sovereignty and integration has proved largely ineffective.

Sub-Saharan Africa has, in recent years, been classified as a natural-resource play for foreign investors. These investment potentials have made the region one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world. The region is also diverse, with a mix of different legal systems and legal traditions. While investors are constantly seeking to understand the different legal regimes, international arbitration offers comfort by providing a framework for the enforcement of rights in a neutral forum and on a different platform. According to the World Bank, the ability to enforce an arbitral award is an important factor for investors considering potential markets in which to invest.Given the sixtieth anniversary celebration of the New York Convention (NY Convention), this article examines the enforcement regimes for arbitral awards in sub-Saharan Africa. It considers the momentous developments in the enforcement regimes in the region, due to the implementation of the NY Convention. It examines the proposed amendments to the enforcement provisions in the Nigerian Arbitration Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2017, recently passed by the Nigerian Senate. It also examines the important provisions in the revised Uniform Act on the Law of Arbitration and the revised Rules of Arbitration of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration – both recently adopted by the OHADA Council of Ministers. It attempts a comparison between the enforcement regimes in the OHADA Member States, the NY Convention Member States, and in countries that do not belong to any of the two regimes.A chart of the legal regimes on enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in sub-Saharan Africa is attached as appendix.

Quase 10 anos após a eclosão da Crise de 2008, seguimos insistindo em velhas soluções para problemas econômicos recorrentes, e os remédios regulatórios que têm emergido em resposta à crise continuam fundamentalmente baseados no tradicional paradigma econômico neoclássico que pressupõe que o ser humano é um agente econômico infalivelmente racional, conforme o modelo do Homo economicus, desconsiderando-se as evidências empíricas em sentido contrário que nos trazem as ciências cognitivas em geral, e a economia comportamental em particular. Pois, lançando mão dessas descobertas, nossa tese é a de que a análise econômico-comportamental do direito deve ser usada como instrumento para prescrever políticas públicas capazes de aprimorar a regulamentação do mercado financeiro. Para tanto, dividimos nosso trabalho em três grandes capítulos. No primeiro capítulo, tecemos uma narrativa da Crise de 2008, com ênfase nas circunstâncias em que foi engendrada, e discorremos sobre como a economia neoclássica explica suas causas. No segundo capítulo, explicamos a economia comportamental e a análise econômico-comportamental do direito, contrapondo-as à economia neoclássica e à análise econômica do direito. No terceiro capítulo, defendemos que a explicação neoclássica da crise é incorreta, e tecemos uma narrativa alternativa da Crise de 2008 com base na economia comportamental. Finalmente, criticamos as principais respostas regulatórias que têm sido dadas à Crise de 2008, demonstrando que continuam se baseando quase que exclusivamente na economia neoclássica, e fazemos propostas alternativas de regulamentação inspiradas na análise econômico-comportamental do direito, a fim de provar nossa tese de que esta disciplina realmente deve ser usada para prescrever políticas públicas a fim de aprimorar a regulamentação do mercado financeiro.

Section 71(3) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 has introduced into South African company law a provision which for the first time permits the board of directors to remove another director from office in certain specific instances. A further significant innovation in the Companies Act 71 of 2008 is contained in section 162, which empowers a court to make an order declaring a director delinquent or placing him under probation in specific instances. The effect of section 162 is that a court is empowered to remove a director from the board of directors. The focus of this thesis is the removal of directors from office by the board of directors and by the judiciary. The thesis explores the underpinning philosophy of the statutory provisions relating to the removal of directors from office. It also examines the impact of the power given to the board of directors and to the courts to remove a director from office. The grounds and the procedures for the removal of directors by the board of directors and the judiciary are examined. The fiduciary duties applicable to directors in removing a director from the board of directors are also explored. In addition, this thesis examines the removal of directors holding multiple positions or capacities in relation to a company, such as an employee or a shareholder with loaded voting rights. The remedies which may be relied on by a director who has been removed from office by the board of directors are examined. Recommendations are made to strengthen and improve the provisions in the Companies Act 71 of 2008 relating to the removal of directors from office by the board of directors and the judiciary. Amendments to the Companies Act 71 of 2008 are suggested to remove ambiguities; to guard against the abuse of sections 71(3) and 162; to improve the grounds and procedures for the removal of directors by the board of directors and the judiciary, and to enhance the remedies that may be relied on by a director who has been removed from office by the board of directors.

Foreign investments in SADC are regulated by Annex 1 of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investments (SADC FIP), as well as the laws of SADC Member States. At present, SADC faces the challenge that this regime for the regulation of foreign investments is unstable, unsatisfactory and unpredictable. Furthermore, the state of the rule of law in some SADC Member States is unsatisfactory. This negatively affects the security of foreign investments regulated by this regime. The main reasons for this state of affairs are briefly explained below. The regulatory regime for foreign investments in SADC is unstable, due to recent policy reviews and amendments of key regulatory instruments that have taken place. Major developments in this regard have been the suspension of the SADC Tribunal during 2010, the amendment of the SADC Tribunal Protocol during 2014 to bar natural and legal persons from access to the Tribunal, and the amendment of Annex 1 during 2016 to remove investor access to international investor-state arbitration, better known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The regulation of foreign investments in SADC has been unsatisfactory, among others because some SADC Member States have failed or neglected to harmonise their investment laws with both the 2006 and the 2016 Annex 1. Furthermore, SADC Member States such as Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have multiple Regional Economic Community (REC) memberships. This places these Member States in a position whereby they have conflicting interests and treaty obligations. Finally, the future of the regime for the regulation of foreign investments in SADC is unpredictable, due to regional integration efforts such as the recent formation of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Zone (T-FTA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The T-FTA is entitled to have its investment protocol, while the AfCFTA investment protocol will be negotiated from 2018 until 2020. These developments entail that the 2016 Annex 1 will soon be replaced by an investment protocol at either the T-FTA or AfCFTA levels, thereby ushering a new regime for the regulation of foreign investments in SADC. The unknown nature of the future regulations create uncertainty and instability among foreign investors and host states alike. This study analyses the regulation of foreign investments in terms of Annex 1 and selected laws of SADC Member States. In the end, it makes the three findings mentioned above. In order to address these findings, the study makes four recommendations. The first is that foreign investments in SADC must be regulated at African Union (AU) level, by means of an AfCFTA investment protocol (which incidentally is now the case). Secondly, investor-state disputes must be referred to the courts of a host state, optional ISDS, the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJ&HR) or other agreed forum. Thirdly, an African Justice Scoreboard (AJS) must be established. The AJS will act as a gateway to determine whether an investor-state dispute shall be referred to the courts of a host state, ISDS, the ACJ&HR or other forums. Fourthly, the office of an African Investment Ombud (AIO) must be created. The AIO shall facilitate the early resolution of investor-state disputes, so as to reduce the number of disputes that may end-up in litigation or arbitration.

The objective of this research was to determine the current status of the application of the OHADA accounting system in DRC, five years after its adoption. A survey was conducted on thirty small and medium-sized enterprises in Bukavu to determine the level of compliance with the SYSCOHADA principles, the degree of harmonization of accounting practices and the difficulties related to the application of this system. The results shown consistently that compliance with Syscohada principles is not absolute, the level of Harmonization is still low and finally companies in DRC still need time to fit into the OHADA accounting system.

Les États ouest-africains ont fait de l’intégration économique la voie privilégiée pour relever le défi du développement économique dans un contexte international de plus en plus concurrentiel. Ainsi, par le biais d’organisations régionale et sous régionale, la protection du libre jeu de la concurrence est devenue un enjeu communautaire. L’intégration économique régionale ouest-africaine a donc été saisie par le droit de la concurrence. De ce fait, on assiste à l’émergence de droits régionaux de la concurrence au sein de l’Union économique et monétaire ouest africaine (UEMOA) et de la Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO). Chacune de ces organisations a donc mis en place un droit de la concurrence dans son espace économique. Il en résulte, vu la composition de l’UEMOA et de la CEDEAO, que ces droits communautaires ont vocation à s’appliquer aux États membres de l’Union qui font également partie de la Communauté. Cette particularité de la coexistence de ces règles communautaires de la concurrence en Afrique de l’Ouest méritait qu’on s’y attarde afin d’évaluer leur application, d’analyser l’effectivité et l’efficacité de ces droits. Cette étude comparative s’est attachée à mettre en exergue ce que renferment ces droits, à relever leurs spécificités, tout en mettant en lumière leurs insuffisances. Il apparaît nécessaire de repenser, voire de réformer certains aspects de ces droits afin d’améliorer leurs applications, gage d’une meilleure protection de la libre concurrence en Afrique de l’Ouest. West African states have made economic integration the preferred way to deal with the challenge of economic development in an increasingly competitive international context. Thus, through regional and subregional organizations, the protection of the free movement of competition has become a community issue.West African regional economic integration has therefore been seized by competition law. From this, we note emerging competition rights in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Each of these organizations has therefore put in place a competition law in its economic area. As a result, given the composition of UEMOA and ECOWAS, these Community rights are intended to be applied to the Member States of the Union which are also part of the Community. The features of the coexistence of these Community competition law in West Africa deserved to be examined in order to evaluate their application, to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of these rights. This comparative study intends to highlight the contain of these rights, reveal their specificities, while showing their lacks. It’s necessary to rethink or even reform some aspects of these rights to improve their applications, basis for a better protection of free competition in West Africa.

L’imprévision est un thème à la frontière entre liberté contractuelle et justice contractuelle. Cependant, un nouveau regard peut être porté sur cette institution du droit des contrats grâce à la théorie des contrats relationnels développée par Ian R. Macneil ou encore à travers le contrat-coopération théorisé par Suzanne Lequette. Ces théories invitent à prendre en considération la valeur intrinsèque du lien contractuel et l’incomplétude du contrat. L’imprévision fait donc partie intégrante des contrats relationnels de par leur nature. La vocation première des contrats relationnels est de perdurer, obligeant les contractants à des normes de coopération et de flexibilité. Sous couvert de bonne foi, la relationnalité serait le fondement des changements de circonstances. Une étude comparative du régime des changements de circonstances apporte certaines précisions. Il semble exister deux approches des changements de circonstances, l’une restreinte aux modifications économiques et l’autre étendue, basée sur l’objectif ou le fondement contractuel. Une approche étendue de l’imprévision semble nécessaire dans les contrats relationnels. Enfin, les effets des changements de circonstances devraient donner priorité au maintien de la relation et à la norme de coopération en imposant une renégociation puis en permettant une adaptation judiciaire des termes de l’engagement. La résiliation, contraire à la nature des contrats relationnels, ne devrait intervenir qu’exceptionnellement.

Historical context. Scope of application of cross border merger. A comparison of class rights with minority protection in cross border merger. The transposition of the cross border merger in the German law for an implementation.