10th anniversary of the call of Dakar: new development prospects

A historical seminar

18, April 19, and 20 1996, on the initiative of the national Association of the judicial officers of Senegal, with the assistance of the UIHJ, was held in Dakar the first international conference of the judicial officers in Africa, devoted to the comparative study of the profession in France, in the Benelux countries and in Africa. Were present colleagues from Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia as well as France and Belgium. The topic of the conference was: “the judicial officer, his future in a legal and legal area”. Ten years later, the UIHJ wanted to commemorate this historical meeting and to pay a stirring homage to its famous architect, Yacine Sene, former president of the national Order of the judicial officers of Senegal, vice-president of the UIHJ.
It is in the amphitheatre of the hotel N'Gor in Dakar that the debates were held during two intense and rich days. The topic of the conference was: “New development prospects of the occupation of judicial officer in Africa”.
At the time of this conference, a delegation of the UIHJ, of a national Order of the judicial officers of Senegal, national Chamber of the judicial officers of France represented by its president, Paul Rochard, of Ohada, in the person of its permanent secretary, Mr. Lucien Kwawo Johnson, had the privilege to be received by Mr. Macky Sall, Prime Minister of Senegal, and by Mr. Sheik Tidiane Sy, Minister for the Justice of Senegal.
Placed under the auspices of the ministry of Justice, the seminar included delegations that came from the four corners of Africa (South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, and Rwanda), but also of Europe (France, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland) and of America (Quebec).
Key man of the harmonization of laws of businesses in Africa, Mr. Lucien Kwawo Johnson, permanent secretary of Ohada, did not miss the invitation and honoured with his presence the works of the conference.
The National School of procedure of France (ENP), kingpin of the seminars organised by the Training unit of the African judicial officers (Ufohja), was massively represented by its vice-president, Jean-Michel Rouzaud, and by many African and French Ufohja experts.
One also appreciated and noticed the presence of many personalities of the legal and judicial community, such as high-ranking magistrates and clerks, as well as the president of the Chamber of the notaries and the president of the Order of Lawyers and Solicitors.
In his opening speech, Mr. Birane Niang, principal private secretary, representing the Minister for Justice, indicated that the holding of the celebration of the 10th birthday of the first meeting of the African judicial officers on African ground is for him a reason for great satisfaction as it constitutes a recognition of the Senegalese expertise on legal matters on the one hand, and the conscience of its government in the introduction of a state of law on the other hand. “In order to give citizens reliable guaranties, it is essential that the execution of court decisions is carried out within reasonable times. It is a need for a State of law under the risk of seeing the emergence of a parallel way, source of all kinds of drifts” indicated Mr. Niang. The principal private secretary also indicated his attachment to the Cadat project of the UIHJ. “Our country accompanies you in this project all the more when considering that its finalisation will facilitate the adoption of a uniform statute for judicial officer proposed by the national Order of the judicial officers of Senegal” he underlined.

The first branch of the UIHJ

After these very eulogistic remarks towards the UIHJ and the occupation of judicial officer, Jacques Isnard, president of the UIHJ, thanked the national Order of the judicial officers of Senegal and its president Malick N'Diaye, prevented, to have agreed on greeting the various demonstrations intended to commemorate “the Call of Dakar” of 18 /20 April 1996. The president of the UIHJ specified that the presence of the permanent secretary of Ohada, Mr. Kwawo Lucien Johnson, was a pledge of comfort because “on the one hand it makes it possible for us to maintain increasingly closer links with this institution which always inspires much admiration to us and on the other hand, gives the pleasure to welcome, under the seal of increasingly more refined relations, an eminent lawyer but also a friend”. Dakar is well the first branch of the UIHJ in the world, after Paris which is the registered office, recognised Jacques Isnard. “Indeed, since 1996, it is the 5th time that we are in Dakar within the framework of a great international demonstration. This shows the attraction which your capital causes for the judicial officers”. Then, the president of the UIHJ pointed out the history of the action of the UIHJ in the field of the “globalization of the UIHJ”, Africa having been chosen after the 15th international congress of Warsaw in 1994 as a privileged objective of this ambitious program.
At the time of the bringing together, much were unaware of even how the system of execution in their closer neighbours functioned! Under these conditions the project of bringing together the professionals in charge of the execution of each country of the area appeared quite daring. Nevertheless, impelled by the communicative dynamism of the inexhaustible president of the judicial officers of Senegal, Mrs Sene, the UIHJ was to decide to organise in Dakar the 1st seminar of the African judicial officers. The goal was very simple: to proceed to an inventory of the situation and to know who made what and how, in our branch of industry i.e.: enforcement, service of documents, statements of facts, auction sales, debt collecting, but also the organisation of work, the social organisation, etc
Thanks to the support of the ministry for the French co-operation and the French Embassy in Dakar, without which nothing could have been done, eight States of central and Western Africa convened. In addition, the judicial officers of Belgium and Tunisia had joined the local delegations, so that this first Pan-African seminar could open, reinforced by the participation of eleven countries coming from Africa and Europe.
This seminar had a considerable repercussion. It was to seal the massive integration of the judicial officers of the African continent to the Union, and it was to also mark the beginning of the progress of our fellow-members of the area in their movement of recognition and development.

An exemplary journey

The president of UIHJ to continue: “Because Ladies and Gentlemen, what a journey since 10 years! Here is a profession which existed only in an embryonic state, dispersed, unorganised,, sometimes without defined statute, subjected to texts of another time, shared between the public office and the liberal profession, sometimes not very qualified and especially without training. Today, stimulated by the treaty of Ohada and the uniform act on enforcement, most of the time structured in the liberal form, organised in national chamber or order, harmonised with a statute in constant evolution, formed with this incomparable tool which is - thanks to the national School of procedure, of which I greet its vice main president Jean Michel Rouzaud - Ufohja. All the States of the zone - the last being the Central African Republic - are members of the UIHJ. Today, we welcome for the first time and with much emotion our fellow-members of Rwanda who also have just obtained a system comparable with that which is dear to us and have just filled their application form to join the Union. If one wants to consider well that we are surrounded by the representatives of South Africa, of the Maghreb, of Canada and of seven countries of Europe - on the whole more than twenty countries -, I invite you to measure the extent of the event of which we are the witnesses”.
Then, Jacques Isnard devoted himself to a prospective analysis of the future of the profession in Africa and in the world. “Our condition of survival will lie at the same time in our faculty to impose ourselves and go constantly forward and in that to pre-empt the future. Yesterday, the judicial officer worried about acquiring a statute, today we work on the triptych service of documents - enforcement - debt collecting. Tomorrow we will open the future with our action plan resting on multi-field”.
President Isnard completed his speech while returning thanks to Yacine Sene and by dedicating the seminar to her. “Ten years after, it is a whole professional community which owes you homage and recognition, particularly this large brotherhood of central and Western Africa which you instigate since then. This one from now on feels invested in an obligation: that to continue your mission in order to find us in Dakar in 2016 for the 20th birthday!” the president concluded from the UIHJ under the applauses of the crowd.

A Latino-African vision of the law

After this emotional intervention, it was the turn to Thierry Guinot, judicial officer in Paris, former president of the departmental chamber of the judicial officers of Paris, also the author of a reference work on the occupation of judicial officer (“the judicial officer: standards and values - professional Ethics, deontology, discipline and standards” - EJT, 2004) to give a presentation whose topic was: “A Latino-African vision of the law through the ancestral traditions”. In an intervention of an exceptional quality and often referring to the history and the philosophy of the law, our fellow-member showed that between the Latin and African countries, the bonds are much older and the destinies more closely dependent than it is generally supposed. “It is not useless to reconsider our roots, but also to think together this future bound by a common archetypal structure, enriched by different situations and courses”, precisely indicated Thierry Guinot, and to conclude: “To put the man as Being in the centre of the legal device is to postulate that the harmony of the people can only exist according to the relation of the man to the surrounding world. To preserve the being as a major premise of the legal thinking and to admit Having as a minor premise, this is the lesson which our values teach us, and it is in that that the Latin and African visions of the law can and must be combined”.

Reinforcement of the profession in Africa

After this most appreciated intervention, the works of the conference could start. Three workshops had been organised. The first workshop related to the topic of the reinforcement of the occupation of judicial officer in Africa. Leo Netten, 1st vice-president of the UIHJ, played the essential part of chairman.
Jacques Isnard made an intervention on the reinforcement of the profession in the Ohada zone from 1996 to nowadays. “Personally, I have the feeling that the treaty of Ohada was the genuine detonator which triggered the profession in the concerned States in the direction of progress,” estimated Jacques Isnard. It is as from this period that the UIHJ, in collaboration with the ENP, started to organise its first conferences, initially in Brazzaville, then successively in other capitals (Cotonou, Libreville, etc). Gradually, with the help of success, and with the multiplication of requests, the idea to create an autonomous but internal body of training, made its way to lead to the implementation of Ufohja at the time of the Council of Cairo in May 2002. The first conference given within the framework of this new institution took place little time afterwards in Niamey. Today, Ufohja, which does not replace the internal trainings sessions, is a teaching model by the richness of the exchanges which it develops in a form still yet uncommon since it concerns a comparative practise between the judicial officers of the zone and those of France.
Yacine Sene, vice-president of the UIHJ, indicated her attachment to the mutual knowledge of the judicial officers, which had been the engine of the gathering of 1996. “With Ohada, we find ourselves around texts which are common for us. Ohada is a force which does not exist elsewhere. We have an element of gathering so strong - as it is universally recognised - that we cannot even appreciate it” estimated our famous colleague. In addition, Yacine Sene pointed out the essential importance of training and greeted the birth of Ufohja, “great instrument and which comes in support of training at the national level”. The vice-president also evoked progress as regards communication in particular thanks to Internet and the UIHJ website which makes it possible to obtain information in real time and at any time.

Ohada, a unique organisation in the world

The following topic, “the treaty of Ohada and its uniform act relating to enforcement : an opening for the judicial officers of the zone” was successively treated by Paul Rochard, president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of France and by Honoré Aggrey, permanent secretary of the UIHJ for central and Western Africa.
President Rochard expressed his joy in meeting in Dakar his fellow-members of African countries and other continents, and in particular those who could express themselves in his native language, French. “There is only one continent in the world where that is possible. This continent is yours”, he noticed. The president of the French national Chamber also indicated that Africa had set up something unique in the world and that was envied by many countries with the treaty of Ohada by pointing out the federator role of this organisation, which African specificity was also inspired by a legal culture partly resulting from the French law. Concerning the uniform Act bearing organisation of the simplified procedures of collecting and ways of enforcement, one indeed finds great similarities with the French texts. But this text “first of all constitutes the collective cement of the judicial officers of the Ohada zone. It allows an unhoped-for bringing together of the law professionals”. “Ohada made us become aware that the French judicial officers and those of the Ohada zone come from the same legal brotherhood” concluded Paul Rochard, by wishing long life to Ohada, Ufohja and to the judicial officers.
For its part, Honoré Aggrey evoked in detail the uniform act on enforcement. The permanent secretary of the UIHJ indicated that this text altered the seizure of personal properties but also brought many innovations with the apprehension seizure, the seizure claim, or the various garnishments. Ultimately, specified our fellow-member, the act contains an opening for the judicial officers. Still it is necessary that we can profit from it by proposing adjustments and even new provisions to an essential tool of the work which only requires to be improved. Let us profit from it as of now. Here is the wish of the African judicial officers compared to the uniform act on enforcement, concluded our eminent colleague.

A harmonization of laws and procedures

The following topic, “the reinforcement of the occupation of judicial officer through the International Conventions” was approached by Mathieu Chardon, 1st secretary of the UIHJ and Ufohja expert, and by Kokoé Gaba, judicial officer in Lome (Togo).
In a clear and concise presentation, Mathieu Chardon showed that the reinforcement of the profession through the international conventions took place on the one hand by a harmonization of laws and on the other hand by a harmonization of the procedures. He thus explained the place of international conventions as regards justice, and which were its consequences for the occupation of judicial officer, in particular as a factor of development and cohesion.
Our colleague Kokoé Gaba supplemented the remarks of the 1st secretary of the UIHJ by quoting the example of the Hague Convention of November 15, 1965 as regards service of documents. Kokoé Gaba described the modes of transmission of the documents and in particular the possibility offered by article 10 b of convention to transmit the documents directly from a judicial officer to another judicial officer. And our colleague to underline: “It is to this end that the UIHJ was given for mission of making steps near the governments, including the Senegalese government, to adhere to this convention. On the initiative of the UIHJ, it would be desirable that the chambers of the judicial officers encourage their respective countries to sign this convention because it is their interest. Today, there is no more than two African countries and it is a gap which it is necessary to fill as soon as possible, to allow us a transmission of the documents as soon as possible”.
The topic of “the place of the African judicial officer in the UIHJ” was evoked by Adrian Stoïca (Romania), member of the board of the UIHJ, and by Alphonse Kibakala, president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Congo.
It was the first visit in Africa for our fellow-member Adrian Stoïca, who declared himself immediately conquered by the people that by the places. “If one refers in the place of the African judicial officer in the UIHJ, I can say to you that he plays an important part. I do not say it by kindness, because what his achievements on the level of the African continent and relating to the UIHJ are obvious and speak for themselves” declared our colleague. Evoking in turn Ohada, Ufohja and the Cadat project, Adrian Stoïca underlined the promptness of our African colleagues.
Alphonse Kibakala pointed out rightly that “it is thanks to the meetings of Dakar of 1996 that we judicial officers of the Ohada zone could reach the UIHJ”. And our fellow-member to continue: “Dakar 1996 was thus for the African Ohada zone the true catch. It was the occasion for us judicial officer of the Ohada zone to discover a reliable partner, undeniable and impossible to circumvent. Finally a partner, a godfather who allowed us to solve on the African level many problems involved in the structuring and the development of the profession in Africa. Since then and through its action the UIHJ permitted to reach the liberal statute in the majority of the countries of the Ohada zone”. Also, according to the president of the national Chamber of Congo, the African judicial officer today plays a considerable and sizeable positive part in the life of the UIHJ, in particular through his participation in the board of the UIHJ, with the presence of Yacine Sene, Honoré Aggrey or Emmanuel Minoungou.

A Social Security cover for the African judicial officers
The second workshop was devoted to “the standardisation of the occupation of judicial officer in Africa”. The chairman was Honoré Aggrey.
The first topic, “the social organisation of the judicial officer: analyse and projects”, had as speakers Francis Guépin, former president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of France and member of the board of the UIHJ, and Séverin Somda, president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Burkina Faso.
In an intervention which answered an extreme topicality, that of the general absence of Social Security cover for the African judicial officers and their staff, president Guépin launched the idea to set up, on the level of the African continent, a system of professional insurance which would meet the needs of the profession in Africa. There is not indeed any health, death, disability or even pension protection system, for our African fellow-members. Francis Guépin stated in particular that one could launch invitations to tender at the level of international insurance companies. The representatives of the African delegations approved and supported this federative idea.
Séverin Somda confirmed that there is not any social organisation concerning the African judicial officers. “That created a feeling of insecurity. Can one be truly effective in this insecurity?” he wondered. The burkinabé president added: “The fellow-members should be exhorted to reach this evolution to have a pension and protection. With the will of our African fellow-members, one will be able to carry out this objective. We would like to have the venality of our offices. That can seem outdated but that would enable us to consider the future in a better way. It will be necessary for us to fight to obtain that. The proposals of Francis Guépin are excellent. I subscribe to it completely and exhort my African colleagues to adhere to it. It is a challenge for us African judicial officers but it will be necessary for us to embrace it”.

An ambitious project

The next topic, “the standardisation of the independence of the judicial officer”, was treated by Francoise Andrieux, judicial officer in Roquevaire (France), former president of the national chamber of the judicial officers of the Bouches-du-Rhône, and by Saint-Auffret Louzingou, former president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Congo.
In a very complete presentation, Francoise Andrieux showed that if the standardisation of the profession was necessary, it was not to constitute only a simplification. “It is necessary to have on the question of the standardisation of the independence of our profession, guaranties of an effective mode of enforcement, an ambitious sight plunging towards the economic globalisation and the internationalization of the exchanges” she indicated. In the end, it is a question of instigating the economic development and the growth in French-speaking Africa by the installation of reliable tools and legal authorities. If legal safety is a fundamental requirement of the State of right it also generates an added-value.
For its part, Saint-Auffret Louzingou indicated that “this standardisation is necessary to reinforce the effectiveness of the African judicial officers and to make enforcement a cleansed and organised field”. For the former president of the national Chamber of Congo, it is essential to consider a harmonization of the independence of the judicial officer through important actions such as the accelerated adoption of a statute of the African judicial officer, the standardisation of a tariff to all, the institution of an Ohada Community enforcement title, the realisation in the long term of the Cadat project, and to obtain from the governments of the Member States of the UIHJ the guaranties of the basic rights of the judicial officers. “Such a project could appear very ambitious, but with the assistance and the support of the UIHJ, we are certain that we will be able to have a good independence of the judicial officer and that we could be united together in the same way of working and enforcing court decisions” he concluded.

An essential profession

The following topic, “the need for providing for implementing deontological, disciplinary and rigorous rules” was approached by Thierry Guinot and Emmanuel Minoungou, auditor of the UIHJ and former president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Burkina Faso.
Thierry Guinot rightly underlined that if a profession wants respects and wants to last, it is necessary to prove its usefulness an even that it is essential, credible and offers a quality service. Our fellow-member then insisted on the discipline which must be essential in the profession and the modes of regulation through the structures of control and a system of sanctions. “The rigour - when it aims to the wellbeing of all - should not be felt like a burden, but like a means, as well as the technology which also comprises constraints while improving the activity. The discipline - the art of doing and to abstain from doing - constitutes at the same time a practise and a personal quality, turned towards the good of the group and which one collects in return the advantages. As for the sanction, it is a weapon which - in the ideal - should not be used; it is a weapon of dissuasion with respect to the professionals who would be tried by the fault; it is an argument of persuasion with respect to the public showing that our values are not a vain word” concluded Thierry Guinot.
Emmanuel Minoungou, greeting Thierry Guinot, added that “the aims in view by our various national professional organisations are to create a qualified judicial officer worthy and respectful of all. President Isnard does not cease pushing us towards the goal. This competence and this credibility so much required would be useless if the cement of the deontological and disciplinary rules did not constitute the base of it”. Quoting Rabelais (“science without conscience is only the ruin of the soul”), Emmanuel Minoungou, estimated that the judicial officer must be a fundamentally human character, calm by temperament, with a good intellectually mind and strong morally. To guide him towards this way, it is essential to create and build deontological rules and to apply them rigorously, without sentimentalism but with much of understanding, for the good of the whole of the profession as well on the national level as on the international level.

The promotion of a global legal area

The standardisation of the statute of the judicial officer and the Pan-African project “Cadat” were then presented by Leo Netten, 1st vice-president of the UIHJ, Johan Fourie, permanent secretary for the Southern Africa, Mourad Skander, member of the office of the UIHJ and Honoré Aggrey.
Leo Netten pointed out that, since many years, the UIHJ strongly engaged in a process aiming at promoting the adjustment of a global legal area. It has a broad overall vision of the international law and situation in Africa. No doubt our organisation is ready to support the inter-zones meetings, to bring together the technicians of the various legal families, to federate the ideas and to impose themselves as an ideal interlocutor near all authorities. At the permanent council of Cape Town, indicated Leo Netten, our president Jacques Isnard proposed to create a commission which would include judicial officers of the three zones: North Africa, Ohada zone and SADC zone. All the delegations that were present unanimously adopted a resolution in which it was decided to create a group of experts judicial officers in Africa from which the goal would be to seek within the various countries, the points of convergence between the legislations, the civil and commercial procedures and the law professional having a common specificity in these matters; secondly to draw up a summary of the comparative law between the various States by creating common standards and thirdly to support the installation of a African legal area by the creation of a uniform instrument allowing the direct transmission of the documents and the court decisions of between judicial officers of these states. Such are the broad outline of the Cadat project (for Cape Town, Dakar, Tunis).
Johan Fourie reconsidered the resolution of Town Cape of May 11 2001 which decided to gather the group of experts, then on the resolution of Pretoria of February 25 2005 which adopted four proposals aiming:

Then, our fellow-member presented an analysis of the resolution of Cape Town, by recognising the delay in its implementation and by exhorting the countries and the board of the UIHJ to be mobilised more still around this project.
Mourad Skander continued while insisting on the shutter formation. For our fellow-member, the uniform statute should comprise an obligation for each judicial officer to follow cycles of formation continues at least during the first ten years of its career. Then, Mourad Skander launched out in a plebiscite of the Cadat project, by underlining its flexibility. “The characteristic of Cadat in this context it is that it is unifying Africans. One could develop this structure so that it takes the shape of an African commission dependent on the UIHJ” he indicated.
To conclude on the topic, Honoré Aggrey, carried out an analysis of the rules of service of documents in the countries of Central and Western Africa. Our fellow-member recognised that this analysis “was amply facilitated because of membership of these countries to the same colonial past and, to a lesser degree, with the advent of Ohada”. In a very clear talk, Honoré Aggrey evoked successively, the fields of intervention of the service of documents, their contents, the agents qualified to intervene, and the authenticity of the acts, their cost and the service of documents in international matter.

To ensure an on-going and specialised training

The third and last workshop, relating to the optimisation of the occupation of judicial officer in Africa, was placed under the moderation of Anne Kérisit, member of the UIHJ and Ufohja expert.
The first topic of the workshop related to “the training, Ufohja and the co-operation with the French national School of procedure”. The speakers were Jean-Michel Rouzaud, vice-president of the ENP and Claudine Mougni, judicial officer in Libreville (Benign), secretary of Ufohja.
Jean-Michel Rouzaud recalled that the UIHJ considered as a pressing need the setting up of an effective and perennial system being able to ensure an on-going and specialised training and in Africa. The Training unit of African judicial officers (Ufohja) was thus born on 1 February 2002, mainly centred on the uniform acts of Ohada. The texts being strongly inspired of the French model, the UIHJ considered that collaboration with the National School of procedure became impossible to circumvent to ensure this training. The ENP immediately placed at the disposal of Ufohja its competences, its experiment, its know-how, its expertise, as well as several of its collaborators, selected among the most experienced and the most brilliant ones. Consequently, were met the conditions so that the ENP could continue and intensify its interventions in the Ohada zone within the framework of Ufohja, thanks to a very light structure of three components: the UIHJ, the ENP and a college of African judicial officers. Jean-Michel Rouzaud declared that “our African fellow-members often let us know that they appreciated the interventions of the ENP, that they were useful and advantageous for them, for themselves and also their collaborators”.
Claudine Mougni then paid a stirring homage to the “women of Dakar 1996” who were present ten years ago and who are still present today, and with the most famous amongst them, Yacine Sene, “the spark which made it possible to start the fire which lights our road henceforth”. Ufohja was thought for the African judicial officers and with the African judicial officers, our colleague specified by pointing out its procedure for the choice of the seminars, between three to four per year, at a eighteen months intervals per country.

The confidence of the citizens

The 2nd topic was that of the enforcement and the assistance to the judicial officer and the contest of the police force. It was treated by Dominique Aribaut, member of the UIHJ, and by Filifing Dembélé, president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Mali.
“In any democratic country, the State is held to ensure the safety and the security of its citizens, which led it to set up the institution that we know and respect all: justice” indicated Dominique Aribaut. Then our colleague described with precision the mechanisms of obtaining the help of the police force and the assistance to the judicial officer, by precisely defining the concept of assistance which is often confused with that of the help. In conclusion, Dominique Aribaut estimated that if the court decisions are not enforced, the judge loses confidence in his own mission and, which is more serious, also loses the confidence of the citizens. “We will then run the risk to see the development of a private justice, blind and inequitable, with the principles far away from the supreme justice, which will not give any more to the citizens the guaranties necessary to the respect of their rights” she finally pled.
Filifing Dembélé presented the situation in Africa in comparison of the assistance and the help of the police force and the many problems encountered in practise. The distraint must obey to certain conditions. The requisition in many African countries is done by means of a mail addressed by the judicial officer to the police force or to the gendarmerie but the requisition must be covered as a preliminary with a visa given by the public prosecutor's office. This visa results from the practise and is criticised by the judicial officers. According to the person who is the subject of the procedure, the visa will be or not granted. This situation must change, indicated our fellow-member, because it is against the principle of separation of the powers.

Service of documents: an unquestionable value for the parties
The following topic related to “the service of documents: the security and the respect of the rights of the parties” and was approached by André Mathieu, member of the board of the UIHJ and by Séverin Somda.
André Mathieu developed his intervention around a quadruple security: by the statute of the judicial officer, by the laws, by the deontology and the professional responsibility and by the legal independence of the judicial officer. Drawing from the examples of the Quebec legislation, our fellow-member detailed his arguments to conclude that “being the service of documents, it remains obvious as for us that the service by the ministry of a judicial officer is an unquestionable value for the parties since the citizens are highly protected by all the parameters envisaged by the laws as well on the civil an disciplinary levels”.
Séverin Somda, for his part, presented the topic under the angle of the African specificity, acknowledging many great similarities because of the statute and the role of the judicial officer in many African countries.

A revolution in the mentalities

It was time for Rose-Marie Bruno, judicial officer in Arles (France), and Odette Remanda, judicial officer in Libreville (Gabon), both Ufohja experts, to treat the topics of the complementary activities such as the collection of debt and statements of facts.
Rose-Marie Bruno centred her intervention on the debt collecting with the flame and the force of conviction that one knows to her. “Informal debt collecting, in opposition to judicial debt collecting, results from a revolution of mentalities” she indicated. In Africa, or in the majority of the countries, the judicial officer, member of the legal professions, is ignored and has every difficulty to sit its authority in this quality. That will be all the more difficult, if he intervenes upstream a lawsuit, to obtain from the debtor to respects his engagement. To succeed in informal debt collecting supposes two conditions: the organisation of a structure of covering within the office and the control of the techniques. That requires a well trained and qualified personnel which knows the whereabouts and the tools of covering.
Regarding statements of facts, Odette Remanda recalled that the statement of facts made by judicial officers is envisaged in the statutes governing the occupation of judicial officer in the near total of the States of French-speaking Africa. The purpose of the report with the service of evidence covers several aspects and is to help justice to approach the truth. The judicial officer within the specific framework of his mission of statement of facts could be taken along to being the craftsman of the production of evidence, by drawing up an official document at the request of a private individual, on his initiative or under the decision of the judge. The fact that it is written in by a public officer confers him the authentically characteristic of the document. Odette Remanda concluded her intervention by specifying that “such recognition obviously offers an undeniable force to the statement of facts too often forgotten”.
The seminar could not be completed without an important intervention of Mr. Lucien Kwawo Johnson, permanent secretary of Ohada. Mr. Johnson thanked the UIHJ and the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Senegal to have invited him to take part in this historical seminar. The permanent secretary of Ohada greeted the UIHJ which he described as the best international ambassador of Ohada and wished that the cooperation between the two organisations be closer still, for a mutual benefit.

Rwanda wants to join the UIHJ

One could not also miss to account for the well noticed intervention of Rwanda, in the presence of Thémistocle Munyangeyo, and Jean Bosco Nsengiyumva, respectively president and secretary of the Body of the judicial officers of Rwanda. Mr. Bosco Nsengiyumva indicated that the Body of the judicial officers of Rwanda started in 2003. It includes 23 judicial officers, of which a woman. Our fellow-member stressed the geopolitical importance of Rwanda, located at the geographical, strategic linguistics crossroads of Africa. “The ministry for Justice of Rwanda would like to come into contact with Ohada to make a version for the East Africa of what exists in West Africa. That would help us to make our law of the businesses and to know a judicial officer who crosses the borders. We request the assistance of the UIHJ for that and also for training. That relates to Rwanda but also to all the bordering countries” he declared, starting a thunder of applause.
Reacting to these remarks, president Isnard stated: “It is useless to underline the intensity of the emotion which overwhelms us. The population of Rwanda was submitted during many years to a national and international situation which made that this State country at the crossroads of Africa became universally known for circumstances which we wish from the bottom of our heart that it is never happen again. Our fellow-members managed to create a profession identical to ours, thanks in particular to what they could find on Internet. They created a national Chamber, all that in record time. With regard to the profession, you will learn to get acquainted to our great family of the UIHJ. You will have the occasion to see how our organisation is made up and how it develops. You have in the room the permanent secretary of Ohada which will be I am sure very receptive to your message. We will be happy to welcome you among our organisation”.

A delegation greeted at the primature of the Republic

In parallel to the seminar, a delegation of the UIHJ, the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Senegal, of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of France, as well as Mr. Johnson, permanent secretary of Ohada, convened at the primature of the Republic with Mr. Macky Sall, Prime Minister of Senegal, and with Mr. Sheik Tidiane Sy, Minister for the Justice of Senegal. During nearly on hour, the exchanges were direct, warm and fruitful.
Mr. Sall enquired near the president of the UIHJ of the situation of the judicial officers in the other countries of Africa, greeting the specificity of Ohada.
Jacques Isnard summarised the two working days, presenting in particular the project of a social system for the judicial officers in Africa. The president of the UIHJ also recalled to the authorities the project of the accession of Senegal to the Hague Conference and the Hague Convention of November 15, 1965. The Prime Minister ensured to him that this project was going quickly to be examined. To finish on another very positive note, the Minister for justice announced the very next revalorization of the tariff of the Senegalese judicial officers, to the great satisfaction of our fellow-members who have been expecting this rise for several years.

A woman of exception

The seminar of Dakar 2006 was completed, as it should be, in the friendship and the confraternity, around an official dinner where each one could slacken and also continue, in relaxation, the two days debates. But this moment also has the occasion to return a stirring and very moving homage to Yacine Sene, for the whole of her actions during the past ten years, in collaboration with the UIHJ, to build and ensure the future of the judicial officers in Africa. President Isnard in particular greeted the woman of exception without who nothing would have been possible. Many tributes were then paid to her. For her part, Eliane Oberdeno, president of the national Chamber of the judicial officers of Gabon declared that “Yacine Sene is the object of the admiration which President Jacques Isnard and the whole of the members of the UIHJ convey to her”. Several gifts were given to the vice-president of the UIHJ who, very moved, thanked and greeted the UIHJ as well as the “children of 1996” while wishing everyone to meet in ten years to celebrate the new projections of the UIHJ and the future developments of the noble occupation of judicial officer in Africa.

As for sure, appointment is taken, dear Yacine!