The team leading the OHADAC project is pleased to announce that an article on the CARO Centre (see attached) has been published in the November edition of Inter-Entreprises (Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana) to mark the notification of the first arbitration award last month.

The award was notified following arbitration proceedings conducted on the basis of the ad hoc OHADAC Arbitration Rules in a dispute between two Guadeloupe companies in the context of the sale of business assets.

The article takes the form of an interview about training with Marie-Camille Pitton, secretary general of the OHADAC Centre for Arbitration and Mediation.

The article starts by restating the main steps taken over the past year to implement the OHADAC project with the organisation of a training session for lawyers from the Bar of Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Barthélémy in October 2019; a symposium on OHADAC arbitration in the presence of Sir Dennis Byron, former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice, also held in October 2019; the March 2020 signing of the FEDER agreement between the Chamber of Commerce of the Islands of Guadeloupe, which is leading the project, and the managing authority of the Interreg V Caribbean programme; and, finally, the free mediation service set up in June to help companies in Guadeloupe overcome any conflicts following last spring's lockdown.

The interview then reviews the main stages of these arbitration proceedings, and the specific characteristics of the OHADAC arbitration are also underlined.

When parties have recourse to OHADAC arbitration, they discuss the substantive issues of their case with the arbitrator upon referral. Opportunities for reaching an agreement during the arbitration proceedings - thereby terminating it - are also specifically provided for. These types of bridge between mediation and arbitration respond to a demand from companies, which often have a great deal to gain from being able to arrive at a compromise and, where possible, resume the course of their commercial relationship.

It follows that flexibility and controlling costs and deadlines will be the focus of the actions undertaken by the CARO Centre.

The other aspects of the CARO Centre's role are also highlighted very effectively: safeguarding the confidentiality of discussions and documents; the Centre's role in appointing the Arbitration Tribunal; the importance given to the “training” of Caribbean arbitrators in delivering the OHADAC project in the years to come; and the controlling of the award by the Centre prior to notifying the parties.

Finally, we are reminded that the CARO Centre will offer its users the full range of alternative dispute resolution methods, ensuring that they choose the technique most suited to their needs and constraints so that they can derive the maximum benefit from it.

The CARO Centre is in the final phase of being set up, with the official launch of its activities set for early 2021.

As a reminder, for a company to benefit from the services of the CARO Centre, it is important that its contract now includes an arbitration or mediation clause; model clauses appear in the attached document.

These clauses can also be sent on request in French, Spanish or any other language.

For any questions, please contact Marie-Camille Pitton on the following address: contact@ohadac.com