Conference in Dakar, Senegal - February 19 to February 20, 2010: The Impact of the OHADA on International Business Law and Practice in Africa

The purpose of the treaty creating the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (in French: “OHADA”), signed by 16 Sub-Saharan African States on October 17, 1993 and entered into force on September 18, 1995, is to promote economic development and integration as well as to ensure a secure legal and judicial environment in Africa.

The OHADA treaty provides its member States with a uniform business law, a regional arbitration institution for the settlement of contractual disputes as well as with the training and specialization of magistrates and staff of the judiciary that the members have agreed to contribute to.

The harmonization method, both on the substantive and procedural level, represents a very unique approach that is not to be found elsewhere in the world. It gives rise to a deep interest in America, China and also in Europe.

This event is dedicated to the impact of the uniform law on the practice and development of business with Africa; it will also allow the participants to compare the experiences and perspectives related to this new approach to uniform law

More information at: http://seminaires.uianet.org/en/the-impact-of-the-ohada-on-international-business-law-and-practice-in-africa/home143/

CALL FOR PAPERS: Mediterranean Legal Hybridity

A symposium on ‘Mediterranean Legal Hybridity: Mixtures and Movements’ is to be held in Malta on Saturday, 12 June 2010. The event is hosted by the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law and the Mediterranean Institute, both of the University of Malta. It is organised in conjunction with Juris Diversitas.

Studies of Mediterranean legal and normative diversity have been isolated, sporadic, and too often framed within narrow disciplinary constraints. The symposium addresses this lacuna by fostering an international and interdisciplinary network of experts—in law, history, and the social sciences—to investigate legal hybridity and diffusion in the region.

Those interested in making a presentation (twenty minutes long) should email Dr Seán Patrick Donlan (sean.donlan@ul.ie) by Monday, 29 March 2010 with a short (250 word) proposal. The conference fee is €100; transportation and accommodation are not included.

JURIS DIVERSITAS BLOG: Dedicated to legal mixtures and movements

JURIS DIVERITAS, an international, interdisciplinary community for the study of legal mixtures and movements, is pleased to announce the launch of their blog.

The Juris Diversitas Blog is public and will focus on legal hybridity and diffusion, past and present and around the globe.