SENEGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Aboubacar Fall, AF Legal
and are regularly monitored by the Management Com - mittee. The Commercial Court of Dakar (TCHCD). The TCHCD was established by Law No 2020-14 amending Law No 2017-24 of 20 June 2017 on the creation, organisation and functioning of commercial courts and commercial courts of appeal. These institutions conduct awareness campaigns, organise training, and participate in the development of local practices tailored to the needs of businesses. Indeed, the CAMC-D and the TCHCD play an essen - tial role in the management of expedited proceedings, in particular those provided for by OHADA law for cer - tain urgent commercial disputes. They also supervise commercial arbitration, an alternative dispute resolu - tion method encouraged by OHADA, thus enabling the parties to find solutions that are faster and less costly than traditional legal proceedings. As part of its activities, the CAMD-D develops training programmes that take place locally or abroad, notably at the ICC International Court of Arbitration. These training sessions are intended for arbitrators and man - agers of the Centre. Investment arbitration and international engagements As part of the reforms of 23 and 24 November 2017, the OHADA legislature, in addition to the traditional opening of OHADA law to any arbitration seated in one of its member states and to legal entities gov - erned by public law, extended its material scope to investment arbitration. Investment arbitration is a private legal procedure that allows a foreign investor to sue a state before an international arbitral tribunal (often under a bilateral investment treaty, or BIT) when the investor believes that its rights have been violated (expropriation, dis - criminatory treatment, etc). Senegal is playing a central role in promoting interna - tional arbitration as the preferred mechanism for set - tling foreign investment disputes. Although relatively rare, investment arbitration is gaining in importance,
particularly with the signing of new BITs, often accom - panied by ICSID or UNCITRAL arbitration clauses. Senegal has concluded no fewer than 29 BITs pro - tecting investors. In this vein, Senegal has acceded to: • the 1965 Washington Convention on the Settle - ment of Investment Disputes (ICSID); and • the Hague Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, which established the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Senegal has been a member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) since 1966. It has been involved in several high-profile cases. For example, Woodside, the Australian oil com - pany, recently filed a claim against the Senegalese Directorate General of Taxes and Domains (DGID) with ICSID. Procedural developments Joinder of arbitral proceedings The joinder of several arbitral proceedings is a cen - tral issue in complex arbitrations. Joinder is possible when the disputes are closely linked by a shared ele - ment – such as the identity of the parties, the object or the means – making it desirable for them to be dealt with jointly in order to avoid irreconcilable decisions. OHADA law, and the rules of the CAMC-D, provide for explicit mechanisms for the joinder or consolidation of separate arbitrations. Article 33 of the CCJA Arbitration Rules provides that the Court may, on grounds of connection, order the joinder of several cases for the purposes of the writ - ten or oral procedure or the final judgment. Similarly, Article 49 of the CAMC-D Arbitration Rules provide for the same possibility. In practice, the junction is only possible if: • the arbitration agreements are compatible; • the parties expressly consent to this; and • the arbitral institution allows this in its rules. Otherwise, it is up to the arbitral tribunal or the institu - tion to interpret the will of the parties, which may lead to legal uncertainty.
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