Bibliographie sélective OHADA

The use of mobile communication devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers or notebooks with access to the internet has become an everyday phenomenon in today's business world. However, whenever mobile communications are used for the purposes of contract formation, that is, the mobile dispatch of offers or acceptances, the mobility of the communicating parties raises important difficulties for the application of traditional legal rules: The fact that messages transmitted via phone, email or SMS can be dispatched and received  at virtually any  place on  earth challenges the categories of private international law and international contract law, which are based on the (unspoken) assumption that parties communicate from their home country. The existing legal framework for cross-border contracts therefore hardly takes into account the possibility that parties may move across borders, and that the place of their communications may accordingly vary.The present article addresses the legal difficulties and uncertainties that cross­ border  mobile communication  raises under international rules of law. It elaborates on the traditional role of the site of communication in this context before scrutinising how 'mobility friendly' the provisions  of the relevant  conventions  developed  by the United Nations, the Hague Conference for Private International Law and other organisations  are. In doing  so,  it critically  discusses  in particular article 10(3) of the UN Electronic Communications Convention of 2005, the most recent attempt at regulating mobile communications. Finally, it identifies a number of problems that have hitherto been overlooked (as notably the interaction of article 10(3) of the UN Electronic Communications Convention with traditional private international law rules on the formal validity of contracts) and proposes appropriate solutions.

This study examined economic integration through trade between BRIGS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries and sub-Saharan Africa. The study examines the comparative advantages of the two economic blocks with respect to the exportation of merchandise (food, agricultural raw materials, fuels, ores and metals, and manufactures). The findings of this study reveal the actual status of these two regions as economic partners in each of the five subsectors of merchandise exports.The  trend  shows  that,  with  the  exception  of  manufactures  exports, the competitiveness of all subsectors of the merchandise  exports of  BRIGS is characterised by a  declining  trend.  BRIGS has  a  comparative  advantage in the world in the exportation of manufactures and fuels, and comparative disadvantage in the export of food, agricultural raw materials, and ores and metals.  Interestingly, manufactures are  continuously  and consistently  in a steadily rising trend. This is evidence that BRIGS's structural transformation towards higher valued-added commodities is proceeding well, which means that policy makers should be considering ways of enhancing it further.In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of manufactures exports, it is found to have comparative advantages in all merchandise exports. Sub- Saharan Africa’s competitive advantage is the highest in the exportation of ores and metals, followed by fuels, agricultural raw materials and food. Sub-Saharan Africa has a comparative disadvantage in the export of manufactures throughout the period considered in this study. This implies that the prospects of structural transformation to downstream of the higher value-added commodities export part of the supply chain are good: the slow pace of transformation towards higher value-added goods should therefore be demanding the attention of policy makers. The study has revealed that sub-Saharan Africa is more competitive than BRICS in the exportation of ores and metals, fuel, agricultural raw materials and food. On the other hand, BRICS is more competitive than sub-Saharan Africa in the export of manufactures.The study has also revealed that significant economic integration can be sustained  between  BRICS  and  sub-Saharan  Africa  in  the  exportation  of all merchandise subsectors. Specifically, sub-Saharan Africa is a potential destination market for BRICS’s exports of manufactures. Conversely, BRICS is also a potential destination market for sub-Saharan Africa’s exports of ores and metals, fuel, agricultural raw materials and food.Economic integration between BRICS and sub-Saharan Africa favourably influences peace and stability in the regions. Sustaining peace and stability in these regions also favourably influences the wellbeing of the communities.

Economic co-operation and integration brings with it a need to harmonise mechanisms for the regulation of international trade, not only at a public-law level between states but also at a private-law level between traders inter partes. It is often forgotten that differences in the substantive law applicable to a contract function as a non-tariff barrier to trade. Because international trade facilitates economic development, the focus in this article is on the harmonisation of sales laws. Traditionally, private law harmonisation has been conducted by international private or inter-state organisations that specialise in the harmonising of law at a global level. Today, private organisations and groups devoted to harmonising business laws, as well as regional economic integration organisations, are also pursuing legal harmonisation. Global, regional and domestic laws now all exist in the same area of the law, which can give rise to duplication of efforts and problems with the co-existence of global and regional sales law. This article will discuss these issues with reference to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and selected regional laws in considering whether regional harmonisation can act as a stepping stone towards increased harmonisation at a global level or whether it is to be viewed as a threat to global integration and harmonisation.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (the CISG or the Vienna Sales Convention) was adopted at a diplomatic conference of the United Nations held in Vienna during 1980. The Convention came into force on 1 January 1988. According to its preamble, the Convention is based on the premise that “the adoption of uniform rules which govern contracts for the international sale of goods and take into account the different social, economic and legal systems would contribute to the removal of legal barriers in international trade and promote the development of international trade”. The CISG has proven to be successful in its endeavour and currently has 74 member states representative of all legal traditions. As an international convention, the CISG has been lauded for its “simplicity, practicality and clarity”. Schlechtriem observed that the CISG has now gained worldwide acceptance. It has even been stated that the CISG has established a “world law on international sales” and that it has influenced several domestic sales laws. It is submitted that the CISG constitutes an important component of modern international commercial law or of the modern lex mercatoria. Therefore, a study that aims to establish a better understanding of the scope and functioning of the CISG and its relationship with domestic law, is of special relevance for the international business and legal community. The two basic methods of the unification of law, ie the unification of substantive law and the unification of private international law, have both been utilised in the field of the international sale of goods. The CISG is the most notable example of first mentioned method of unification.

This thesis aims to provide an analytical framework to which investor-State arbitral tribunals can refer in cases where international trade law is invoked. The starting point of the present study is the trend in commentary on international trade and investment law, which makes the argument that international trade and investment law should be reconciled due to the clear "convergence" between (some of) their constitutive elements. This convergence argument is not misguided: there are similarities between the underlying principles of global trade and investment and, as such, a better coordination of these principles would be helpful for several reasons. Such reasons include legal certainty, reduction of transaction costs, better coherence in the operation of international agreements that now combine both trade and investment provisions, to name a few. However, no matter how reconcilable or converging the two disciplines may be, their enforcement mechanisms are structurally different and are likely to remain so even if the reforms towards a modernization of the investment dispute settlement (currently discussed at the EU policy level) are eventually implemented in the near future. In light of this last point, it is possible to claim that integration between trade law and investment law will only have limited or even negative effects if the trade and investment adjudicators continue to exercise their functions in an isolated manner, without taking cognizance of (i) the norms contained in the other discipline and (ii) the other adjudicator's scope of authority. Effective convergence of trade and investment entails a two-way process pursuant to which one adjudicator can use (i.e. take into account, refer to, apply, interpret and enforce) the law of the other and vice-versa. The thesis envisages one of the two dimensions of this process, namely the use of trade law by the investment adjudicator. Looking into the details of the convergence argument, the role of investment dispute settlement mechanism and the use of trade norms over the past two decades by litigants and arbitrators, the present study identifies both the legal techniques and obstacles these actors shall apply or go beyond in order to use trade norms in the most appropriate way and, more importantly, benefit from this use.

The Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has proved popular, particularly outside Africa. However, only a few States have adopted it in Africa, with only two in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Taking into account the role that African countries have played in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the creation of the CISG, it has always been pertinent to look at whether SADC Member States should adopt the CISG as an instrument for harmonising the law of international sales in the region. Since it came into force, only two SADC Member States (Lesotho and Zambia) have ratified the convention. There is apparent reluctance from the rest of SADC Member States to ratify the convention despite calls to that effect and the genuine need for legal harmonisation. The article revisits the call for the ratification of the CISG in SADC and considers other realistic alternatives to ratification.

Le recours à l'arbitrage par les opérateurs du commerce international a une finalité très importante, qui est celle de l'indemnisation appropriée et efficiente du préjudice. En vue d'évaluer celle-ci, notre étude adopte une recherche juridique détaillée en matière de réparation pour aboutir à un résultat satisfaisant concernant le principe le plus adapté en tant que cadre commun de l'opération d'évaluation de l'indemnisation du préjudice par les arbitres internationaux, en mettant notamment la lumière sur l'arbitrage CIRDI et CCI. À cette fin, il était nécessaire de suivre une analyse juridique tant sur les règles fondamentales que contingentes de l'indemnisation dans le souci d'avoir une perspective entière du processus de l'évaluation du quantum du préjudice. Un passage transversal était ainsi inéluctable sur les règles juridiques relatives à la réparation en droit privé français ainsi qu'en système juridique de Common Law. Au demeurant, un examen sur la codification de ces règles a été suivi dans le cadre des instruments internationaux de droit uniforme. Toutes ces réglementations ont inspiré le droit de l'arbitrage et ont servi comme des sources de celui-ci en matière de la réparation. Ces développements nous ont conduits à percevoir que l'indemnisation doit être adéquate en prenant en compte non seulement les préjudices subis, conformément au principe général de l'indemnisation intégrale, mais aussi tous les intérêts lésés. Sachant que certains préjudices ne sont pas mathématiquement évaluables, une indemnisation arbitraire s'impose dans ce cas. Un nouveau concept d' « indemnisation adéquate» du préjudice pourrait alors dans l'avenir s'imposer dans le droit de l'arbitrage international.

La Commission des Nations Unies pour le droit commercial international (CNUDCI), organe juridique principal de l’Organisation des Nations Unies à vocation universelle, a reçu de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU pour mandat d’harmoniser, d’uniformiser et de coordonner le droit commercial international. Plus de quarante-cinq années après sa création, la CNUDCI poursuit son œuvre dans les domaines les plus importants du droit commercial international tels que l’arbitrage commercial international, la vente internationale de marchandises, le droit des sûretés, l’insolvabilité, les paiements internationaux, le transport international de marchandises, le commerce électronique, la passation de marchés et le développement des infrastructures. En adoptant divers instruments juridiques par le biais d’un processus de négociation intégrant les Etats ainsi que certaines organisations intergouvernementales et non gouvernementales, la CNUDCI met à la disposition de la communauté internationale des marchands les outils juridiques nécessaires permettant de faciliter et de sécuriser les opérations du commerce mondial. La présente thèse analyse la manière dont la CNUDCI contribue au renforcement du droit commercial international en adoptant un ensemble de règles juridiques sur les opérations commerciales internationales.

O Direito Internacional Contemporâneo é um sistema pluralista e tem se defrontado com temas os mais diversos na atual agenda internacional. Um dos temas que têm merecido a preocupação do Direito Internacional é a chamada crise da água, assim entendida como a escassez, a poluição, a crise de abastecimento, a sede do setor privado para entrar nesse mercado e os diversos conflitos internacionais em torno da água. A problemática da água envolve, principalmente, três áreas distintas do Direito Internacional, a saber: o Direito do Comércio Internacional, o Direito Internacional do Meio Ambiente e o Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos. Para lidar com essa problemática e trazer soluções concretas à questão da água, a presente pesquisa sugere um diálogo entre essas distintas áreas do Direito. Parte do pressuposto do Direito Internacional como um sistema, apesar dos seus distintos regimes, identificando-o frente ao fenômeno da globalização e seu consequente fenômeno da governança global, emoldurado por distintos atores internacionais, distintas normas de direito e distintos fóruns de aplicação. Apresenta o Regime do Comércio Internacional e o Regime do Meio Ambiente Internacional, nos quais já se inserem as questões hídricas, e identifica possíveis diálogos entre esses regimes, moldados pela noção de desenvolvimento sustentável. Afirma a existência do Regime Internacional da Água Doce e suas duas bases de construção estrutural e desenvolvimento: o Direito Internacional da Água Doce para fins diversos da navegação e o Direito Humano à Água. Apresenta os elementos de cada uma dessas defesas e conclui pela existência e desenvolvimento desse regime, cuja consolidação deve ser feita através de um diálogo com o Regime do Comércio Internacional. Nesse proposto diálogo, apresenta dois tipos de interação entre regimes: a interação conflitual e a interação relacional. Como interação conflitual, faz dialogar as normas do GATT e do GATS com as normas do Regime Internacional da Água Doce. Como interação relacional, traz propostas concretas que harmonizam o comércio internacional e a proteção das águas doces, a saber: a criação de uma agência especializada, no âmbito da ONU, para assuntos hídricos; a criação de uma Convenção Quadro sobre recursos hídricos e a criação de um Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo para a água e seu consequente mercado de water certificates. Após detalhar esse hibridismo das normas sobre recursos hídricos, conclui pela legitimidade dessa interação relacional e pelos ganhos que podem advir em favor de um desenvolvimento sustentável, através desse diálogo entre o Direito do Comércio Internacional e o Direito à Água.

To regulate and facilitate are the main functions of legal rules. These purposes are achieved by a harmonised legal system by which the law becomes identical in numerous jurisdictions. The process to unify the law of sale internationally started in the 1920s and culminated, in 1988, in the implementation of the CISG. This Convention intends to provide clarity for most international sales transactions by regulating the formation of contracts, and the rights and obligations of the seller and the buyer resulting from the contract. The CISG has these days enjoyed much ratification and influenced a number of legislation reforms worldwide. Despite the role it played during the drafting process of the CISG, the DRC has not yet ratified it. Instead, the country continued to rely, until recently, on colonial legislations which had become out-dated, and inadequate to meet modern international sales contracts requirements. The situation appears to have been improved a year ago as the effect of the adoption of OHADA law whose Commercial Act is largely inspired by the CISG. Because the introduction of OHADA law in the DRC is very recent, this study intends to assess the current state of Congolese sales law by comparing it with the CISG and South African law, which is non-CISG but modernised. The comparative study aims at establishing whether current Congolese law, as amended by OHADA law, is sufficient or has shortcomings; if it has some, it aims to identify those shortcomings, and make suggestions for their improvements. After discussion, it has been discovered that the ratification of OHADA law has significantly improved Congolese domestic sales law. Given that there remain certain unresolved shortcomings in Congolese international sales law, however, the study ends by a proposal for the accession of the DRC to the CISG in order to fill them.

This thesis critically assesses the effectiveness of WTO legal rules in the regulation of international trade in petroleum and highlights potential conflicts between competing resources of energy from the WTO regime’s perspective. The theoretical framework of the thesis is built on the concepts used in natural resource economics, trade theories and international relations. On the basis of Hotelling’s rule of natural resource economics, it proposes a model that reconciles the use of petroleum and the development of renewable sources of energy in the power generation sector, which prospectively can be adopted with respect to the transport sector and other sectors involving energy use. The proposed model may improve global sustainable development. However, it is argued that WTO rules are not properly designed to regulate trade in petroleum and, if applied without due respect to specific issues pertaining to the petroleum industry, would obstruct the achievement of the social optimum, and detrimentally affect the national economies of WTO members and global welfare in general. To improve the WTO system, I propose a reformation of its normative ideology through the introduction of the strategic trade policy theory in complement to the neoclassical theory of trade, at least when trade in energy is concerned. On the basis of the study of the applicability of WTO rules to trade in petroleum and a review of proposals put forward by other scholars to improve the regulation of trade in energy, it is argued that the most effective way to improve the trading regime is to negotiate a new general agreement on trade in energy.The role of the WTO in the regulation of trade in energy is analyzed through a regime management theory borrowed from international relations studies. It is argued that the WTO as a regime manager is capable of improving the regime by properly maintaining the existing equilibrium and by initiating, and leading in negotiations of a new equilibrium.

Die Koexistenz des „regionalen" und „universalen“ Einheitsrechts wirft eine Reihe von Rechtsfragen auf, deren Behandlung und Lösung auf den Gebieten des Privat- und Wirtschaftsrechts nicht nur Schwierigkeiten bereiten, sondern auch erhebliche Umstellung erfordern. Einerseits bietet der wachsende Bestand regional vereinheitlichter oder harmonisierter Rechtsnormen gegenüber dem disziplinären Rechtswesen des Völkerrechts ein anderes, facettenreiches Bild und bringt damit neue Forschungsweisen sowie ein anderes Denken und Wissen im Bereich des Privat- und Handelsrechts hervor. In der Erforschung der Spannungsverhältnisse und Lösungsansätze, die sich aus Wechselwirkungen, Konkurrenzverhältnissen sowie Konfliktlagen zwischen derartigen Rechtswesen ergeben, stehen die Rechtswissenschaften noch am Anfang. Andererseits führt die Entwicklung der elektronisch unterstützten Gestaltung sämtlicher wirtschaftlicher Transaktionen (E-Commerce) einen Wandel in der Wirtschaft herbei. Der Kauf von Waren bei einem Online-Versandhaus, die elektronische Kommunikation zwischen einer Handelskette und ihren Zulieferbetrieben, Teleshopping, die elektronische Unterstützung von Warentransporten stellen Beispiele für diesen Wandel dar. Der Internetzugang erleichtert die Intensivierung des An- und Verkaufs von Waren über staatliche Grenze hinweg. Bei derartiger „Grenzenlosigkeit“ wirtschaftlicher Nutzung und aufgrund der fortschreitenden Globalisierung stellt sich im Zuge des Geschäftsverkehrs zwischen Unternehmern (Kaufleuten) oder zwischen Unternehmer und Verbraucher als Parteien aus rechtlicher Sicht neben den unverzichtbaren vertraglich zu regelnden Punkten auch die Frage nach dem auf den Kaufvertrag anwendbaren Recht. Aus dieser Perspektive analysiert die Arbeit umfassend und kritisch gegenüber , - nach einer systematischen Darstellung des UN-Kaufrechts und der(s) OHADA (Rechts insb AU.DCG) hinsichtlich der Entstehung, des Aufbaus, der Grundzüge, der Bedeutung unter Berücksichtigung des Verhältnisses zwischen den beiden Regelwerken und deren Eigenschaften -, den Kaufvertrag zwischen dem Verkäufer und dem Käufer ins System des Handelskaufs der OHADA im Vergleich zu CISG-Regelungen.

L’interprétation des dispositions des accords de l’OMC constitue l’enjeu principal de la phase d’appel du système de règlement des différends. Ce processus intellectuel vise à établir le sens des normes. La compétence d’interprétation procure donc un pouvoir normatif important que l’Organe d’appel est, en pratique, le seul à détenir en dernier ressort à l’OMC. Cependant, elle est encadrée par l’obligation, imposée par le Mémorandum d’accord sur les règles et procédures régissant le règlement des différends, d’assurer la sécurité et la prévisibilité du système commercial multilatéral. Or, l’interprétation est une opération, par nature, quasi discrétionnaire. Elle ne peut donc théoriquement pas répondre à l’objectif de sécurité. Cette thèse montre que l’Organe d’appel parvient pourtant à faire face à ce double défi : procurer, par le biais de l’interprétation, un sentiment de sécurité juridique aux membres, et assurer un minimum de sécurité juridique au système. L’Organe d’appel a conscience que l’interprétation est avant tout perçue comme une opération technique et soigne sa mise en œuvre. Sa technique interprétative rationnelle, sans être en mesure de garantir la prévisibilité, lui permet néanmoins de procurer aux membres de l’OMC un sentiment de sécurité juridique. Sa politique interprétative, basée sur l’intégration du droit de l’OMC dans le système juridique international et sur le développement et le maintien de l’unité du système OMC, lui permet, quant à elle, d’instaurer de facto une situation de relative sécurité juridique. L’Organe d’appel parvient ainsi à faire de la sécurité juridique un principe d’interprétation.

L’Accord de Cotonou, signé en juin 2000 entre l’Union européenne et les États d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP), se caractérise par un respect des droits de l’homme, des normes démocratiques et de l’État de droit d’une part, et la quête d’une conformité des normes aux principes de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), d’autre part. En effet, la politique de développement mise en place par l’Europe au profit des États ACP a vu le jour avec le Traité de Rome et la création du Fonds européen de développement au profit des ces pays. Pendant longtemps, le partenariat, essentiellement économique, a octroyé d’énormes avantages aux pays ACP en vue d’assurer leur développement. Depuis bientôt deux décennies que les normes politiques ont été insérées dans ce partenariat, force est de constater que quelques pays, dont le Togo, demeurent toujours réticents quant à l’instauration de réelles réformes démocratiques en vue d’assurer une véritable alternance politique. En dépit des sanctions infligées çà et là par l’Union européenne, ces pays trouvent un appui auprès de la Chine qui mène, avec les pays d’Afrique, un partenariat en toute exclusion de la société civile.

Le règlement des différends forme la clef de voûte du système commercial multilatéral et une contribution sans précédent de l'OMC à la stabilité de l'économie mondiale. Sans un moyen de régler les différends, le système fondé sur des règles ne serait d’aucune utilité car celles-ci ne pourraient pas être appliquées. Cette organisation est dotée de moyens institutionnels et de régulation propres. L’ORD, Organe de règlement des différends, arbitre des différends commerciaux internationaux qui vise à garantir le bon fonctionnement de l’OMC et à la correction des défauts majeurs apparus lors du GATT. Il est aujourd’hui l’un des mécanismes interétatiques parmi les plus actifs sur le plan international.Pourtant, le jeu économique international n’implique pas seulement les États, les acteurs privés, affectés par les actes et les comportements commerciaux, y cherchent à jouer un rôle concret et efficace. Cette étude aborde la question de la possibilité d’intervention des acteurs privés aux procédures de règlement des différends de l’OMC. Elle a pour objet de présenter les formes actuelles d’intervention de ces acteurs au sein de ces procédures et les possibilités d’un renforcement de leur participation au sein de l’OMC.

This essay examines the relationship between the proposal for a Common European Sales Law and the Convention on the International Sale of Goods in B2B transactions and its future outcome on the law applicable to international commercial transactions: friends or foes? In order to do so, the analysis is comprised of six elements. The first section asks what threat the legal relationship between the two instruments poses. The second section evaluates how and to which extent business behaviour plays a role in the reliance on optional instruments. The next section inspects the level of achievement of the CISG from a diplomatic, legal and business perspective. Subsequently, the consequences of the European instrument on the legal environment are explored. Next, a series of examples illustrate whether the relationship between the two instruments is one of competition or of cooperation. Lastly, the future prospects for both instruments are looked at. In the end of this research, it is submitted that the CISG will enhance the chances of success of the CESL in the long term even though it is likely to affect its popularity for commercial transactions in the short term. Reversely, the CESL will pose a threat to the CISG in the beginning but it will progressively encourage the modernisation of international trade law instruments.