Those attending the Latin American and Caribbean Congress of International Commercial Arbitration,
Convinced that regional integration processes are a way to advance towards a universal process of globalization, well balanced and respectful of the interests of all States belonging to the international community.
Aware that legal harmonization of commercial law is an effective tool to provide regional trade and greater legal certainty and minimize costs, facilitate trade, national economies development and their progressive integration.
Convinced that Latin American and Caribbean countries, due to their geographical environment, require to generate mutual trust and relationships for their common interests through legal harmonization processes that contribute, through their collaboration, to strengthen the international position of the region in international fora, especially those concerning unification and harmonization of private international and business laws.
Recognizing the importance of regional legal harmonization experiences such as that represented by the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) and other regional integration processes,
Considering suitable to promote arbitration in legal trade & investment disputes, as a fundamental pillar of the harmonization of commercial law in the Caribbean area,
DECLARE:
- To support the promotion of the “Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in the Caribbean” (OHADAC) project.
- To convene all Latin American & Caribbean countries, as Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and others…to join this initiative by bringing together all the necessary elements to greater collaboration in order to harmonize their respective legal business systems.
- To seek institutional cooperation on this project in those countries whose legal systems have a decisive influence on the formation of the respective national legal systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, as it is the case with Roman-Germanic, French, Spanish, Dutch systems and British Common Law.
- To express the hope that other countries around Latin America join the OHADAC initiative.
- To request OHADAC to promote and develop an international commercial arbitration institution. To provide it with modern and efficient regulation that takes into account the most recent contributions of comparative law, to fill gaps and move towards an arbitration that meets autonomy of the parties, respecting the States sovereignty, providing an efficient framework to the arbitrators, and ensuring the order issuance by optimizing the quality of justice, legal certainty and effectiveness of the pronouncements.
- To promote the Caribbean comparative law studies, with a broad perspective, for a better understanding of our respective legal systems in order to provide legal harmonization business law contents.
- To submit OHADAC to introduce in its agenda a subject catalog of substantive laws, which harmonization is considered desirable to achieve the objectives pertaining to the legal integration, particularly in the areas of commercial contracting, transportation, business registers, corporations, securities and payment methods, industrial property rights, insolvency law and border enforcement procedures of credit.
- To collaborate with the identified objectives with exemplary and absolute respect for the States sovereignty, the diversity of cultures, values and political concepts in search of sincere cooperation to make possible the harmonization of legislation with the ultimate goal and main common interest to promote progress and economic growth for countries in the region, in addition to improving the living conditions of our Latin American and Caribbean Community peoples.
Signed in Havana on June 26, 2010.
Statement by the latin american and caribbea, congress of international commercial arbitration
