Bibliographie sélective OHADA

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.

La recherche porte sur la modernisation du cadre budgétaire des pays de l’UEMOA. Il s’agit d’évaluer la portée des réformes budgétaires développées dans chacun de ces pays. On s’est essayé à mettre en évidence la nécessaire mise en place d’une standardisation de certains dispositifs ainsi que d’une adaptation des procédures ayant fait leurs preuves non seulement dans certains États de la zone mais également dans d’autres pays confrontés à des problèmes similaires. On s’est appuyé sur les comparaisons internationales existantes et l’on a évalué la pertinence des solutions proposées notamment par les bailleurs de fonds.

The evidence of developments in the harmonization of international business laws shows that Africa is lagging seriously behind. There are still some skeptical voices about the need for and the value of harmonization of international business laws, but such voices are now in a minority. The aim of this paper is to assess the prospects for harmonizing international business laws in Africa. The main contention is that the debate today in Africa is not whether or not there should be harmonization of international business laws, but how this should be done. The paper reviews the imperatives for harmonization and the options that exist and then focuses on the present approach to harmonizing business laws in Africa under the auspices of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Laws in Africa, better known under its French acronym, OHADA. Based on the critical review of the weaknesses and strengths of the OHADA regulatory framework, the paper suggests ways in which the agenda to develop a harmonized and modern set of business laws in Africa can be achieved.

L’articulation du droit uniforme et des droits nationaux constitue l’une des questions les plus importantes pour le développement d’un système juridique cohérent, particulièrement dans sa composante normative. A cet égard, la supranationalité des normes ohada consacrée par l’article 10 du Traité OHADA et l’interprétation dont en a fait la Cour commune de justice et d’arbitrage constituent une solution de principe . Malheureusement, force est de constater que la supranationalité de normes ohada ne permet pas de les résoudre tous les conflits entre les normes ohada et les normes internes des Etats membres. C’est le cas de normes constitutionnelles des Etats membres qui peuvent entrer en conflit avec les normes primaires et les actes uniformes de l’OHADA.

Ever since the colonial era, attempts have been made throughout the various regions of Africa at building supranational units chiefly for administrative and legal convenience. Examples of such attempts include the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the East African High Commission and the federations in former French West and Equatorial Africa, all of which were attempts at forging a supranational nation state. These experiments laid the foundation for further supranational initiatives in post-colonial Africa. In this respect, every region in Africa has either experimented with or is currently experimenting with the idea of supranational regional organisations. This article aims at investigating selected attempts at supranationalism on the continent, the successes and failures of such experiments, and the lessons to be learnt from them. As Africa embarks on the journey of solidifying its unity through the establishment of leviathan continental institutions, efforts should be geared towards building on the experiences of past and present experiments at the sub-regional level. Such experiments offer instructive lessons as they are rooted in similar historical and social contexts.     

The World Bank legal review gathers this input from around the world and compiles it into a useful resource for all development practitioners and scholars. The subtitle of this volume, legal innovation and empowerment for development, highlights how the law can respond to the chal-lenges posed to development objectives in a world slowly emerging from an economic crisis. The focus on innovation is a call for new, imaginative strategies and ways of thinking about what the law can do in the development realm. The focus on empowerment is a deliberate attempt to place the law into the hands of the poor; to give them another tool with which to resist poverty. This volume shows some of the ways that the law can make an innovative and empowering difference in development scenarios. Development problems are complex and varied, and the theme of innovation and empowerment naturally has a broad scope. Consequently, this volume reaches far and wide. It considers the nature, promise, and limitations of legal innovation and legal empowerment. It looks at concrete examples in places such as Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America. It considers developments in issues with universal application, such as the rights of the disabled and the effectiveness of asset recovery measures. The theme of legal innovation and empowerment for development complements substantive and institutional sensibilities in current development policy. Substantively, development policy discourse seems to have moved away from tacking hard toward statist policy or neoliberal policy. Although this brief introduction cannot do justice to the richness and complexity of these contributions, it does consider each focal point in turn.

To reflect the growing trends in the international scene and in furtherance of the objective of its Revised 1993 Treaty, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit in December 2006 revolutionised the structure of ECOWAS by re-designating the Executive Secretariat into a quasi-independent commission headed by a President with a Vice President and seven commissioners. The rationale behind the revision was to make ECOWAS a supranational entity. This article considers whether or not a supranational system is essential for the attainment of ECOWAS' objectives. It asks if the conditions for an effective supranational system are in place in the West African sub-region which could provide a solid foundation for its success and why the quest for a supranational system has not yielded any fruitful result in West Africa. It argues that a retreat from the quest for supranationalism and a return to an inter-governmental system would be a retreat rather than the way forward, and expresses the need for the course of action to be sustained courageously till the impact of integration begins to emerge, and the disguised, patriotic impulse of states to protect their national sovereignty gives way to the full manifestation of ECOWAS as a supranational entity.   

The title of this contribution concerns the sovereignty of OHADA’s States as a solution or a problem of juridical integration. In our analysis, we consider that the States of the OHADA’s area are the main actors of this integration. In fact, the States express their sovereignty towards organs and tools of OHADA. In one hand, the way States express their sovereignty enable to have the same law amongst OHADA’s States. In another hand, by allowing any State to have his own criminal law (as far as sanctions are concerned) the aim of integration (unification) has been jeopardized. The solution of this problem is to have the same penal approach.

The thesis considers the approaches followed by the European Union with the Brussels Regime, the federal system of the United States of America under the ‘full faith and credit clause’; the inter-state recognition scheme under the Australia and New Zealand Trans- Tasman judicial system; as well as the convention-approach of the Latin American States. It finds that the most suitable approach for the SACU is the negotiation and adoption by all SACU Member States of a multilateral convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, comparable to the 1971 Convention of the Hague Conference on Private International Law; the EU Brussels I Regulation and the Latin-American Montevideo Convention, as complemented by the La Paz Convention. It is imperative that a proposed convention should not merely duplicate previous efforts, but should be drafted in the light of the legal, political and socio-economic characteristics of the SACU Member States. The current legislative provisions in force in SACU Member States are compared and analysed, and the comparison and analysis form the basis of a proposal for a future instrument on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments for the region. A recommended draft text for a proposed Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments for the SACU is included. This draft text could form the basis for future negotiations by SACU Member States

O presente trabalho de pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar a origem e os fundamentos da Cooperação Internacional para o Desenvolvimento (CID), com ênfase na Cooperação Sul-Sul (CSS), no sentido de que esta possa atuar como instrumento potencializador do desenvolvimento nacional da República da Guiné-Bissau. Para tanto, o trabalho se estrutura em três capítulos onde se analisa interdisciplinarmente os fundamentos da CID e da CSS. Neste sentido, igualmente analisa o funcionamento da CID na República da Guiné-Bissau e indica uma proposta para o desenvolvimento da República da Guiné-Bissau a partir do Documento Estratégico Nacional para a Redução da Pobreza, do fortalecimento das instituições, das capacidades, da participação do setor privado e das oportunidades de uma parceria estratégica com a República Federativa do Brasil.

This paper examines the current dynamics of regulatory reforms in Africa and its implication on the continent. It analyses the highly political struggle for regulatory dominance of business law in Africa and how this interacts with the preferences and power of select international actors. It illustrates that the struggle between Francophone and Anglo-Saxon sections of society for OHADA to reflect their ideological stance is having a negative effect on the harmonisation process.

Meeste Afrikastate is klein en het nie die vermoë om effektief aan prosesse van die Wêreldhandelsorganisasie deel te neem nie. Hierdie onvermoë, saam met ander faktore, is die hoofrede vir die voortgesette marginalisering van die kontinent in die globale ekonomie en handel. Ten einde effektief aan genoemde prosesse deel te neem en in die voordele van die geglobaliseerde wêreld te deel, moet Afrikastate integreer. Regionalisme of integrasie is nie ’n doel op sigself nie maar is nodig vir die ekonomiese groei van Afrikastate. Dit skep groter markte vir handel en belegging en is ’n aansporing tot groter effektiwiteit, produktiwiteit en mededingendheid. In die lig hiervan stel die artikel drie kernargumente. Die eerste is dat regionalisme voordele bied wat Afrikastate kan ontgin ten einde marginalisering op globale vlak te oorkom. Die tweede argument is dat, terwyl die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG) poog om besigheidsreg te harmoniseer, die Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) (Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires) as voorbeeld kan dien aangesien dit reeds die grondslag gelê het vir die harmonisering van besigheidsreg in Afrika. Die derde argument is dat die SAOG-tribunaal verbeter moet word ten einde ’n meer regionale regsraamwerk binne die SAOG daar te stel. In hierdie verband belig die artikel sommige voordele van regionalisme in Afrika, die lesse wat die SAOG by OHADA kan leer, die voordele van ’n geharmoniseerde besigheidsreg teen die agtergrond van die OHADA-ondervinding en die moontlike wyses waarop die SAOGtribunaal verbeter kan word.

La notion de souveraineté est souvent analysée, interprétée et critiquée sous un angle purement individualiste, comme appartenant à l'État. Toutefois, en raison de la pluralité des États qui caractérise le droit international, la souveraineté est une notion nécessairement pluraliste. L'analyse de la structure normative et institutionnelle de l'ordre juridique international montre effectivement que la souveraineté appartient à l'ensemble des États et signifie et assure leur statut privilégié dans cet ordre juridique. Dès lors, la souveraineté devient une qualité pour justifier les privilèges et les exclusivités des États par rapport aux autres entités de la scène internationale: tout dérive des États et tout doit nécessairement et obligatoirement passer par les États. Cependant, il existe un certain nombre de phénomènes qui affectent cette configuration état-centrique de l'ordre juridique international. Il s'agit notamment des phénomènes dits de la mondialisation qui font fi des divisions spatiales fondées sur l'organisation politique des États. Dans ce processus de mondialisation qui rend floues et in effectives les frontières étatiques, le rôle des États se trouve de plus en plus affaibli et remis en question. L'émergence de nouveaux acteurs représentatifs et des normativités alternatives est la manifestationde cette évolution qui va dans le sens d'un dépassement de la conception état-centrique du droit international et, par conséquent, d'une remise en question de la souveraineté des États.

O presente estudo envolve-se com o tema da União Africana. Na sua abordagem procura analisar a relação do mercado comum africano com o desenvolvimento sustentável, transitando interdisciplinarmente em vários campos de conhecimentos, com ênfase nas Relações Internacionais, Direito Internacional, Economia, Política e História. A investigação, nesse sentido, tem como hipótese a afirmação de que a consolidação do processo de integração política do continente poderá, em primeiro momento, apresentar-se como medida necessária à sua unificação, para que seja realizado, em um segundo momento, por meio da integração econômica, o tão almejado mercado comum africano e seu desenvolvimento sustentável. Tal abordagem abrange diversas variáveis, especialmente o fenômeno do regionalismo, a integração política e econômica e o desenvolvimento sustentável. O objetivo principal consiste em abordar o universo da criação, evolução e consolidação da União Africana e do desenvolvimento sustentável, como instrumentos de superação das dificuldades da integração política e econômica da África. O resultado da pesquisa positiva a confirmação da hipótese, reconhecendo de que a unificação política será fundamental ao processo de integração econômica, rumo ao estabelecimento do mercado comum africano e seu desenvolvimento sustentável.This study involves the themes of the African Union and the sustainable development. In its approach it seeks to analyze the relationship of the African common market with sustainable development, transiting across disciplines in various fields of knowledge, with an emphasis on International Relations, International Law, Economic Policy and History. The scientific research relates to consolidation of the African Union and the sustainable development, whose chance to work is expressed in the sense of asserting that the consolidation of the process for political integration of the African Union may be first, presented as a measure for political unification of Africa and then, follow in a second step, to materialize through economic integration, its targeted African common market and the sustainable development. Such an approach includes several variables, especially the phenomenon of regionalism, the political and economic integration and the sustainable development. The main objective is to address the universe of creation, evolution and consolidation of the African Union and sustainable development, as a means of overcoming the challenges of political and economic integration of Africa. The result of the positive research confirms and recognizes the fact that the materialization of the African Union will help in the process of political and economic unity toward establishment of a common market and its sustainable development

La jurisprudence contribue à l’essor du droit OHADA, à travers l’éclairage ou la création des concepts, et l’application des dispositions des Actes uniformes. L’application des dispositions de droit OHADA se fait en amont par les juridictions nationales, et en aval par la Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage (CCJA) suivant les modes juridictionnel et arbitral. En droit OHADA, la jurisprudence de la CCJA est appréciée à travers la pertinence de ses avis consultatifs ayant valeur délibérante, ainsi que par rapport au contentieux et l’arbitrage. À la suite des juridictions inférieures des États parties, la CCJA connait des pourvois en cassation contre les décisions des juridictions internes traitant des questions relatives à l’interprétation des Actes uniformes. Elle est aussi compétente pour connaitre des questions d’arbitrage. Dans tous les cas, les décisions rendues par la CCJA s’imposent aux juridictions des États parties.

La réussite du processus d'intégration régionale dépend essentiellement de sa réception et de sa sanction dans les ordres juridiques internes. la crainte principale réside dans l'ineffectivité des règles communes dans les Etats parties. Ceux-ci peuvent en effet refuser de tirer toutes les conséquences du transfert des compétences qu'ils effectuent librement au profit des organes communautaires.Si la CEMAC peine aujourd'hui à trouver le juste équilibre entre les objectifs ambitieux qu'elle affiche et la capacité des Etats membres à les réaliser en commun, l'OHADA arrive, dans un environnement difficile, à tracer une voie qui est porteuse d'espoirs.

This paper describes the origins, structure, and practical impact of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). It analyzes the institutional framework created via the OHADA Treaty and the legal, jurisprudential, and functional challenges that OHADA Member States are still grappling with. Details of the nine substantive laws that have so far been ratified as uniform acts by means of the treaty have also been provided. The authors conclude that in making OHADA law effective, Member States face continuing and substantial resource deficits, institutional deficiencies, language ambiguities, and intransigent official attitudes toward the need for appropriate mechanisms for the pursuance and enforcement of OHADA laws and processes.

Using a gravity model for 35 countries and the years 1995-2006 we estimate the impact of regional trade agreements in Africa (in particular ECOWAS and SADC) and compare this to the a benchmark of North South trade integration (Europe‟s preferential trade agreement). We find that  ECOWAS and SADC membership significantly increases bilateral trade flows (and by more than for example preferential trade agreements with the EU do),  SADC membership has a stronger impact compared to ECOWAS and  that the impact of multi-membership critically depends on the characteristics of the overlapping RTA We find a positive impact if an additional membership complements the integration process of the original RTA: overlapping memberships had a significant positive effect on bilateral trade within the ECOWAS bloc but it is insignificant for SADC.

After the end of the Cold War, students of International Relations observed an expansion of inter-state activities at the regional level. Regional and sub-regional groupings appeared to gain momentum as the way in which countries cooperate and should cooperate to pursue peace, stability, wealth and social justice. The surge and resurgence of regionalism has triggered the proliferation of concepts and approaches. The focus of this paper will be on processes and structures of state-led regionalism driven by the delegation of policies and political authority to regional institutions. Based on this understanding of regionalism, the existing literature will be reviewed with regard to three general questions. These questions do not only require research across regions but also allow developing a common research agenda to accumulate knowledge generated about specific regions. First, what are the outcomes of regionalism? How can we describe and compare the results of the delegation of policies and political authority? Second, what are the drivers of regionalism? Why do some governments choose to delegate policies and political authority while others do not? Finally, what are the internal effects of regionalism? How does the delegation of policies and political authority impact back on the domestic structures of the states involved?