The Ohada Common Court of Justice and Arbitration: Exogenous Forces Contributing to Its Influence

The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) is the supranational, apex court of the Organization for the Harmonization in Africa of Business Laws (OHADA), an organization that currently covers seventeen countries in West and Central Africa. OHADA is the French-language acronym for this organization’s title and specifically refers to harmonization; nevertheless, the organization’s purpose is to make those laws uniform, not just harmonized. Its larger purpose is to encourage economic development. Embedded within OHADA, the CCJA is different in important ways from the other international courts (ICs) discussed in this issue. No other IC is in the same way an integral part of its member states’ national judicial systems: within its jurisdiction to review laws, which covers only OHADA laws, the CCJA functions as the highest national court of its member states. This includes receipt of appeals from private litigants and decisions of cases on the merits. In contrast, although the European Court of Justice can receive cases from private parties, it decides a point of law—akin to a certified question—after which the case returns to the national court for further adjudication. Additionally, the CCJA’s jurisdiction over OHADA laws, which is thus limited to specific business laws, sets this court apart from other ICs. Although the World Trade Organization’s dispute-resolution system is in practice the