On 31 March 2017, CRCICA released the French Version of its Arbitration Rules. The translation was prepared by Native French Legal Professionals under the supervision of Dr. Ismail Selim, the director of the CRCICA, and was gratefully reviewed by Prof. Phillipe Deboulanger, Cabinet Leboulanger & Associés (France) who rated it as “an extremely good work”. The linguistic effect of the French version was tested and well received by top international arbitrators. Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard, Partner and Head of International Arbitration, Shearman & Sterling LLP, “think(s) the text is excellent and faithfully reflects the English version, with which most users are familiar”.
The issuance of the French Version of CRCICA Rules, comes responsive to users’ needs as well as global criterial reviews, specifically after the issuance of a Report by the African Development Bank ranking CRCICA as one of the Best Arbitration Centres across the African Continent and Elsewhere and recommending that CRCICA should consider issuing a French version of the Rules to facilitate administering cases in French. The release of the new version coupled with good number of CRCICA’s staff members mastering the French language; provide the technical and logistical groundwork necessary to encourage the administration of cases in French.
Releasing the French version catches chords with the Centre’s strategic vision to exceed its level of cooperation within Africa. As Africa’s oldest arbitration institution, CRCICA has been largely acknowledged as the Continent’s leading Arbitration Institution (Africa Legal Briefings, HERBERT SMITH, February 2017), a research-oriented posture strongly supported by CRCICA’s prestigious enrollment on GAR’s White List of the Guide to Regional Arbitration in 2017 Middle East and Africa. Tooling the Centre with the technical and logistical mechanisms that are necessary to operate within the Francophone Africa, is such an indispensable requirement to preserve this stance.
Leading International Arbitration Practitioners support the issuance of the French Rules as an important business development initiative. Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard, believes that “the French version will be most useful in promoting CRCICA as a natural choice for disputes involving Africa, especially Western and Central Africa”. Dr. Gaston Kenfack, the President of the UNCITRAL, considers that “(the) Rules are modern, flexible and adaptable because they are inspired by the UNCITRAL rules”. He further states: “this French version will indisputably allow the CRCICA to open to the African French speaking countries”. Home-grown international practitioners strongly support the initiative; Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Abdel Raouf Law Firm, opines that “the recent adoption of the excellent French version of CRCICA’s Arbitration Rules is a major development that was highly recommended by the African Development Bank Group in order for CRCICA to attract parties from the whole of the African continent”.
The initiative, also, triggers echoes in purely French businesses. A number of in-house counsels in French companies agrees that the issuance of the French Arbitration Rules rings a bell that “a set of regionally based arbitration tools and mechanisms is out there and is worth considering”.
To build on this key developmental initiative, CRCICA has firm plans to translate into French its other Rules and regulatory texts such as the Practice Notes and the Mediation Rules. Contributing to the French-language arbitration literature is another important target. To this end, it is being considered to add a French Section to the Arab Arbitration Journal which currently features an English section. CRCICA will continue to explore the needs and expectations of French-oriented businesses having trade and investment interests in Africa and the Middle East.
