The seminar in Buea is the third in a series of national efforts to vulgarise OHADA laws to all personnel under the Ministry of Justice.
The need to protect investments and guarantee judicial security in the business world, features among the priorities of the Cameroon government. However, despite government’s efforts, Cameroon has not remained unscathed to treats of judicial insecurity that still continue to plague international business. Cognizant of this unenviable phenomenon, the Ministry of Justice has put in place an action plan that in the short, medium and long terms should permit the perfect application of OHADA laws. In this light, a five-day seminar/workshop was organised in Buea from April 04 - 08 to reinforce capacities of personnel under the Ministry of Justice. The meeting brought together Magistrates, Public Notaries, Sheriff-Bailiffs, Lawyers and Court Registrars, all serving within the South West Court of Appeal.
In his opening address on April 04, Oumarou Bamanga, the representative of the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals underscored the importance of the OHADA Treaty which, he said, does not only deal with current practical issues but is a legal instrument which guarantees the protection of investments by giving to all stakeholders equal treatment. “OHADA appears therefore to be the best answer today to threats of judicial insecurity in the business world,” he stressed.
But because the “Cameroonian Judiciary carries in its system elements of insufficiency, some of which are attributable to qualitative incapacities of the men of law...one of the strategic reforms necessary for a rapid resolution of commercial conflicts must come through continuous and permanent training of various judicial personnel for a better administration and dispensation of justice,” Oumarou Bamanga emphasised. In this vein, he noted, the government with supports from its partners and through HIPC Funds, is sparing no effort to train judicial and para-judicial personnel in the judi-economic field and on human rights. Apart from the mastery of the OHADA laws, the importance of the training also has economic repercussions. Said he : “ No durable economic activity can reasonably take off if a legal framework of precise good laws is not known in advance, is not correctly applied and with a certain stability based on ascertainable case law.”
Oumarou Bamanga voiced optimism that thanks to the seminar, participants will henceforth exhibit a better mastery of OHADA laws whose norms are imperative in a sustainable economy striving for poverty reduction, social peace and security of investments.
It should be recalled that OHADA is the French acronym for “Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affairs” literally translated in English as the “Organization for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa” (OHBLA). OHADA is an international organization created by a treaty signed in Port Louis (Mauritius) on 17th October 1993 by 14 African States. Seminar participants were briefed that since its inception, the achievements of OHADA “are very impressive with about 2000 new and modern articles of the law called Uniform Acts.” Financed by HIPC/Italy/ Cameroon funds, the seminar that closed its doors on April 8, gave participants the best mastery of OHADA Community Laws, their professional capacities improved and harmonized solutions expected to be found to daily practical problems in the field.
