Interview with… Mr Serigne Diop, Minister of State, Attorney General/Lord Chancellor, Minister of Justice

At the Conference of Presidents of National Chambers and Orders of Enforcement Agents (Ohada zone - Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) held in Dakar on the 13th and 14th of May 2004, Mr Serigne Diop, Minister of Justice received the president and First Vice President of the UIHJ as well as Mrs Yacine Sene Q.C. and Mr Moussa Sarr Q.C., respectively president and secretary of the National Order of Enforcement Agents of Senegal.
 
In the course of the interview the points relating to current affairs affecting the enforcement agents in Senegal and in the zone were raised.
 
In relation to the situation in Senegal, the president Isnard indicated that the UIHJ remained attentive to Senegal's process of adherence to the Hague Conference and particularly to the convention of the 15th of November 1965 on the notification of legal acts.
 
This interview made it possible to assess the considerable progress made by our profession, in Senegal and the States within the OHADA zone, particularly in the domain of training.
 
In addition, under the impetus of the president Yacine Sene, Dakar was revealed as the hub of the action of UIHJ in the sub-region, since each year the capital of Senegal is the theatre for numerous International events.
 
Incidentally, and according to the UIHJ, the interested countries do not sufficiently emphasise to those outside of their borders the excellent instrument represented by the OHADA treaty and its uniform acts, which are too little known by the rest of the world. Mr Diop admitted that it would be appropriate to better develop the positive image projected by this treaty.
 
The discussion went on to cover the project of the African national chambers and orders, supported by the UIHJ, to create a certain number of new instruments (uniform acts) on the subject of the transmission and the notification of legal acts and on the exequatur. If one bears in mind the obsolescence of the general convention of cooperation of 1962 in legal matters, it would be more a question of an indispensable reform than an innovative act. Furthermore, the idea of promoting the creation of a uniform status for enforcement agents in the OHADA zone is still following its course.
 
At the end of the interview, the minister spoke in the name of the President of the Republic to assure the UIHJ of President Wade's esteem and his most active encouragements to persevere in the actions in favour of the development of the profession of enforcement agent in Africa.