The OHADAC team is pleased to confirm that the first conference on the future OHADAC Centre for arbitration and mediation took place on 24 October in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), in collaboration with the Bar association of Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Barthelemy.

The OHADAC Centre for arbitration and mediation is scheduled to open in 2020, thanks to the allocation of European funds from the Interreg V Caribbean cooperation program.

This event was organized in the context of the “Challenges of the Bar association of Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Barthelemy” organized by the Bar association of Guadeloupe. It took place on the day following the training on International arbitration (from 17 to 23 October), and just before the Caribbean Bar games (from 24 to 27 October).

This event has gathered public personalities, experts and lawyers from the Caribbean region, who discussed the objectives of the future Centre and the expectations surrounding its creation.

The first panel of this conference focused on the institutional support to the OHADAC project.

Patrick VIAL-COLLET, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Guadeloupe, project leader, and Catherine SARGENTI, President of the ACP Legal association in charge of the implementation of the project, started the discussions. Charles NICOLAS, President of the Bar association of Guadeloupe, St Martin et St Barthelemy, also made a speech, wherein he stressed the importance of the OHADAC project in the perspective of the Guadeloupe Bar association.

Sir Denis BYRON, former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice and of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, attended the event as our guest speaker. In his allocution, he highlighted the current need for legal security in the Caribbean, and also described the past and future contributions of the OHADAC project.

The second and last panels focused on arbitration and mediation. The general objective of offering “tailored made” services in dispute resolution designed to address the needs of the various players of the Caribbean economy was discussed.

The panel on mediation has been the opportunity to discuss the positive impact this technique could have on the pacification of commercial relations in the Caribbean, by improving access to law and to dispute resolution mechanisms. It was highlighted that one of the advantages of mediation over arbitration lies in the fact that it preserves commercial relationships, which have sometimes been long and costly to develop.

Me Daniel JEAN, Avocat at the Port-au-Prince Bar (Haiti), former Justice State Secretary, mediator and arbitrator at the Haiti Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (a partner of OHADAC), was the first to intervene on this panel. His exhaustive presentation provided with a definition of mediation along with an overview of the necessary conditions to resort to mediation; and the specific methodology implemented in this context.

Me Evelyne DEMOCRITE, Avocat at the Bar of Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Barthelemy, former President of the Bar association of Guadeloupe and President of the Lawyers' Training School in Guadeloupe (Ecole de Formation des Avocats) also intervened in this panel. She referred to the training on mediation, which took place in Guadeloupe in 2018 at her initiative. She also stressed existing needs in Guadeloupe and in the French departments of the Americas.

In the panel on arbitration, Me Marie-Camille PITTON first presented the services which will be proposed by the future Centre for arbitration and mediation. Prof. Jeremy JOURDAN MARQUES then described the French legal framework governing arbitration in France and the importance of drafting a valid arbitration agreement, which is a necessary pre-condition to accessing the services that will be offered by the OHADAC Centre.

Me Christelle REYNO, Avocat registered at the Bar of Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Barthelemy, former associate at the law firm Derains & Partners, finally described the technique of “Med Arb”. This technique allows a softer mediation process to occur first, and favors a resolution to a dispute which is not imposed and to which each party subscribes voluntarily.

These discussions were moderated by Catherine SARGENTI, President of the ACP Legal association, and Me Marie-Camille PITTON, Avocat, Attorney at law and Consultant for the ACP Legal association.

For any additional information, you are invited to contact Marie-Camille PITTON at the following e-mail address: marie_camille_pitton@yahoo.fr.