Uniform Act On Contracts For The Carriage Of Goods By Road

Introduction

“OHBLA is a legal tool conceived and realized by Africa to serve economic integration and growth” Keba M’BAYE.

Few legal instruments have assigned themselves more ambitious objectives than the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHBLA).

On October 17, 1993, in Port Louis, Mauritius, 14 african heads of states signed a treaty creating a climate of trust in the economic systems of the contracting states with a view to creating a new center for development in Africa.

The treaty first came into force on September 18, 1995.

Designed to harmonize business laws, to improve legal certainty with an ultimate view to increasing trade and investments, OHBLA constitutes a unique experiment involving the legal integration of states participating in different economic, trade and monetary unions (ECOWAS, UEMOA and CEMAC).

The OHBLA treaty preamble proclaims the aim of “making progress toward African Unity and creating a climate of trust in the economic systems of the contracting states with a view to creating a new center for development in Africa”.

OHBLA’s institutional framework consists of five components: the Council of ministers, the Permanent Secretariat, the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration, and the regional Training Center for Legal Officers.

The treaty revisions signed in Quebec on October 17, 2008 completed the institutional framework with a fifth component, the Conference of Heads of States and Government.

OHBLA has produced a series of standardized pieces of legislation in business law, known as “uniform acts” which are directly applicable in the member states and preempt any relevant domestic legislation.

Nine Uniform acts are actually directly applicable in the member states of OHBLA. The first three Uniform acts (General Commercial Law, Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups, and Secured Transactions) were adopted on April 17, 1997, and entered into force on January 1, 1998. Amendments to the acts on Secured Transactions and General Commercial Law were adopted on December 15, 2010, and entered into force on May 15, 2011.

A second set of uniform acts (Simplified Debt Collection, Procedures and Enforcement Measures, Bankruptcy) was adopted on April 10, 1998, and entered into force on January 1, 1999. The Uniform Act on Arbitration was adopted on March 11, 1999, and entered into force on June 11, 1999; Accounting on March 23, 2000, and entered into force in phases on January 1, 2001 and January 1, 2002; Carriage of Goods by road on March 22, 2003 and entered into force on January 1, 2004; and Cooperative Companies on December 15, 2010, and entered into force on May 15, 2011.

The Uniform Act is greatly influenced by the Geneva Convention of 19 May 1956 on the Contract of the International Carriage of Goods by Road, known as the CMR. In fact, numerous provisions of the Uniform Act are simply taken verbatim from the CMR.

With only 31 articles, this Uniform Act, unlike all the others, is very concise. This is quite logical given its very specific subject matter. However, its conciseness does not make it any less useful, and it should be a very helpful means of developing exchanges in the OHADA region.

I- Scope of application and Performance of the Contract

A- Scope of Application:

The Uniform Act is applicable only to contracts for the carriage of goods by road. Contract for the carriage of goods by road that fall within the scope of the Uniform Act are defined as “any contract whereby an individual or legal entity, acting as the carrier, undertakes, as a principal undertaking and for a financial consideration, to move from one place to the other by road, using a vehicle, the goods handed over to it by another person, called the sender”. Thus, the Uniform Act does not apply to contracts for the carriage of goods without financial consideration, although the definition seems to imply that is applicable to any occasional carriage of goods by a non-professional if such carriage is made for financial consideration

The Uniform Act also applies to combined rail/road transport or road/sea transport, or to any other combination of road and another type of transport where, to perform a single contract for the carriage of goods by road, a road vehicle containing goods is carried over part of the journey by a non-road vehicle, and the goods are not unloaded from the vehicle.

Finally, there is a geographical criterion for determining whether the Uniform Act will be applicable. Thus, it applies to all contracts for the carriage of goods by road as defined above when the place of taking over of the goods and the place designated for delivery are:

- both situated on the territory of a Member state or;

- situated in two different countries, of which at least one is a member state.

On the other hand, the Uniform Act is applicable irrespective of either the place of residence or the nationality of the parties in the contract.

The Uniform Act does not apply to:

- the carriage of dangerous goods, defined as goods which, generally, because of their composition or

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