Bibliographie sélective OHADA

This work aims to find a practical solution to the problem that exists between intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and European Union (EU) law over conflict of jurisdiction issues. Currently, there is a problem as the EU Commission has rendered intra-EU BITs incompatible with EU law. This work argues that the current conflict of jurisdictional problems within investment agreements can be overcome by the creation of an EU investment court. The reliance on this court for the resolution of this conflict, as opposed to private law mechanisms, is important as it is the way forward in handling the conflict of jurisdiction issue at its best. This work argues that an EU investment court will be a panacea to the current problems concerning the conflict of jurisdiction. These problems will be presented through a positivist method where the law is analysed in its current form, highlighting its current weaknesses and resolving these weaknesses by proposing recommendations for such a court through a comparative examination of other international courts that fulfil a similar dispute resolution function, namely the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The purpose of this work is manifold. The work will provide an analytical examination of the relationship between EU law and international obligations within intra-EU BITs. It will further explore and assess the viability of a range of alternative solutions to intra EU BITs enforcement within the EU. It will additionally examine the operation of the OHADA, the UPC and the WTO to inform the proposal of an EU investment court. This is important as the outcome of these examinations will support the argument made in this thesis. It will also impact dispute resolution beyond academia by providing a practical solution to alleviate the current challenges with intra-EU BITs. The recommendations thus can inform changes for lex ferenda.

Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad en el marco del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016 DER2017-84775-C2-1-P

This contribution considers the legislative regulation of the job security (which boils down to preservation of employment) of employees in case of financial distress of a company. It juxtaposes the legislative regulation of four interrelated processes a company may engage in where it finds itself in financial distress, namely a voluntary internal restructuring (especially retrenchment), the transfer of the business or part of the business, business rescue and winding up. The legislative endeavour to preserve the job security of employees in all these processes is described and analysed. The discussion shows that room exists for companies to circumvent this protection and, to the extent that the protection does apply, that it remains difficult for employees to ultimately challenge the substance of decisions negatively affecting their job security. The main protection for employees in all these processes is procedural in nature and to be found in their rights to be informed of and consulted prior to decisions negatively affecting them. In this regard, business rescue is the most employee-friendly process. Participation in this process by employees, however, requires a fine balance as it may be self-defeating and lead to winding up and the permanent loss of jobs.

No abstract available.

It is no secret that there has been an increase in international trade in recent decades. Natural and juristic persons have taken it upon themselves to trade both domestically and internationally. As international trade increases so too do the conclusion of international commercial contracts. When individuals enter into an international contract, one particularly important issue, and one that should be foremost in the minds of the contracting parties, is which legal system will govern their agreement? Therefore, a significant factor to any international commercial contract is whether the parties have the freedom to choose the law applicable to their agreement and to choose the court that will adjudicate upon their contractual disputes, and if so, to what extent may the parties exercise their freedom of choice?... <br>LL.M. (International Commercial Law)

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

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

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

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