The OHADAC Congress was held from 21 to 22 September at the World Trade Center complex in Jarry, Guadeloupe. Both days of the Congress brought together some 200 personalities from various backgrounds and allowed for all of the OHADAC texts to be presented, and namely:

• The Draft OHADAC rules of arbitration,
• The Draft OHADAC model law relating to private international law,
• The Draft OHADAC principles relating to international commercial agreements,
• The Draft OHADAC model law of commercial companies.

The Congress also enabled presentation and announcement of the latest OHADAC institution, the “OHADAC Arbitration Center” which will have its registered office in GUADELOUPE.

The Congress was opened by the Chairman of ACP LEGAL, Catherine Sargenti, magistrate, who outlined the progress made since the Pointe-à-Pitre declaration of 15 February 2007 and thanks all partners for their commitment. Mrs Sargenti announced for the end of 2016, following the training and recruitment of arbiters, the establishment of the OHADAC Arbitration Center.

The opening of the Congress was followed by addresses by the interim Chairman if the Chamber of Commerce of the Guadeloupe Islands, Mr Daniel-Etienne Erlong ; the Secretary of the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce Association (CAIC), Mr Dav-Ernan Kowlessar (Trinidad and Tobago); the Rector of I GLOBAL and representative of FUNGLODE (Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo - the former Chairman of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez), Mr Victor Villanueva (Dominican Republic); the representative of the CNUDCI, Mrs Miriana Belhadj (Austria); the deputy mayor of Baie-Mahault (Guadeloupe), Mr Ary Chalus; and the Deputy Chair of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, Mr Alex Falémé, who were all present at the Congress and unanimously welcomed the initiative, describing this as a decisive step towards development of commercial law and legal integration in the Caribbean.

The Congress brought together over 200 legal experts from across the Greater Caribbean area: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bahamas, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis, as well as Guadeloupe, Martinique and Mainland France, Spain and Columbia and Venezuela.

Works undertaken by the Congress allowed for debate on issues related to international legal standards of OHADAC texts organized around four workshops: OHADAC principles for international commercial agreements; OHADAC arbitration and conciliation; the OHADAC model law of private international law; and the OHADAC model law of commercial companies.

It is necessary to note the particularly warmly welcomed intervention by Mr Narcisse Aka, Secretary General of the CCJA-OHADA who presented the OHADA arbitration, and particularly the OHADA institutional arbitration and operation of the OHADA Arbitration Center at the Communal Court for Justice and Arbitration (CCJA).

The Congress saw a high level of participation from personalities, namely:

• Anne Rapin-Rovini, Legal and Development Consultant - Strategy to Influence Law - Sub-Directorate for Democratic Competition (DBM / GOUV) - Law, Transparency and Liability Section, representing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Development (under whose high patronage the Congress has been placed),
• Manuel de Jesús Pírez, Director for Legal Affairs at the Ministry for External Relations in Cuba (Cuba),
• James Mounazar, representing Judes Hervey Dey, Minister for Trade and Industry in Haiti,
• Dennis Byron and Jacob Wit, respectively Chair and Deputy Chair of the Caribbean Court of Justice (Trinidad and Tobago),
• Elma Gene Isaac, Head of the Regional Integration Unit, and Sylna Ambris-Dick, legal drafter, representing Jules Didacus, Director General of the Organization of States of the Eastern Carribean - OECO (Saint Lucia),
• Omar de Jesús Fernández Jiménez, Prof. of Law at the University of Havana, Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba,
• Daniel Jean, lawyer, former Secretary of State for Justice in Haiti, member of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in Haiti, (Haiti),
• Roberto Nuñez, Professor at the University of Externado in Colombia, member of the Henri Capitant Association for Friends of French Legal Culture, (Colombia),
• Karel Osiris Dogue, Head of Designs, Training and Research - Regional Higher Institute for Magistrature - ERSUMA - (Benin),
• Françoise Andrieux and Jos Iutdehaag, Bailiffs, respectively, Chair and Deputy Chair of the International Union of Bailiffs - UIHJ - (France),
• Philippe-Henri Dutheil, Chair of the Commission of European and International Affairs at the National Council of the Bar, Lawyer, former Chair of the Bar (France),
• Jacques Brice Momnougui, lawyer representing Anne CADIOT-FEIDT, chair of the bar in Bordeaux, also chair of the OHADA club in this city,
• Nicole Soulétie, Administrative and Financial Director at the Foundation for Continental Law, (France),
• Marlène Melisse, 4th Deputy Chair at the Departmental Council in Guadeloupe, (France),
• Raphaël Constant, lawyer, chair of the bar association at the Order of Lawyers in Martinique (France),
• Jamil Houda, lawyer, chair of the bar association at the Order of Lawyers in Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy,
• Richard Louise, bailiff, chair of the Departmental Chamber of Guadeloupe of bailiffs,
• Vincent Clerc, notary public, representing the Notary Institute for Commerce and Entities (France).

There were two defining moments which marked the end of the Congress:

Firstly, unanimous approval of the second Pointe-à-Pitre Declaration, the fundamental basis of the OHADAC program and the future OHADAC Arbitration and Conciliation Center.

Finally, the Congress then ended with the emphatic speech by the President of the Guadeloupe Region, former minister of Overseas France, Mr Victorin Lurel, in favor of the OHADAC. President Lurel notably confirmed the absolute support of the regional executive and European Interreg program for the OHADAC reform for the coming years.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Jean Alain Penda
Email: japenda@ohadac.com