Caroline Duclercq will be taking part, from 28 to 29 September 2023, in a conference in Dakar organized by JUS AFRICA in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Editions du Centre de Recherches et d’Etudes en Droit et Institutions Judiciaires (CREDIJ) on the subject “Arbitration and Companies under OHADA Law”.

She will speak on Friday the 29^th September 2023 during the third roundtable on “Companies providing extra-legal services”, moderated by Pierre Kasongo Makanda, alongside Pierre Daureu and Romain Dupeyre, and will be focusing on the subject of third-party funding.

Eminent professors, colleagues and legal experts will also be present, including: Vanesse de Happi, Hélène Sarr, Mamadou Seck, Claude Mentenon, Yoro Moussa Diallo, Ether Moutngui, Emmanuel Sibidi Darankoum, Ismaila Madior Fall, Jessica Aya Nanou, Mayatta Mbaye Ndiaye, Habibatou Toure, Serges Martin Zangue, Patricia Sopi Kakou, Mounetaga Diouf, Karel Osiris Dogue, François-Xavier Mbono, Martial Akakpo, Gaston Kenfack Douajni, Diamana Diawara, Khaled Abou El Houda, Marie-Andrée Ngwe, Patrick Bondonga Lesambo, Abdoulaye Sakho, Joachim Bile Aka, Sylvie Bebohi, Simon Ndiaye, Coco Kayudi Misamu, Mathias Cazier-Darmois, Mouhamed Kebe, Sabrina Ainouz, Nadia Biouele Tall, Batibié Bâtis Benao, Yvette Ngwevilo Rékangalt, Joseph Djogbenou. 

For full details of the programme, visit: https://www.ohada.com/uploads/actualite/6869/programme.pdf

Medici is proud to announce that Marie-Laure Bizeau has been recognized by “Jus Connect” among the 10 french “legal titans” for her expertise in international arbitration.

Link available here : Linkedin Jus Connect | Arbitration lawyers - International arbitration activity

Medici is proud to announce that Caroline Duclercq has been prized by the Legal 500 in the « Private Practice Powerlist 2023 Arbitration | France ».

Link available here: Private Practice Powerlist 2023 Arbitration | France

Medici is proud to announce that Marie-Laure Bizeau, Valence Borgia and Caroline Duclercq have been nominated by their peers in The Best Lawyers in France ranking (14th edition) for their valued work in the "Arbitration and Mediation" categories. Caroline also appears as Best Lawyer in the “International Arbitration” category.

Link to the ranking: https://www.bestlawyers.com/current-edition/france.

Caroline Duclercq will participate, from May 31 to June 2, 2023, in the 7th ICC Africa Arbitration Conference in Lagos organized by the ICC Nigeria Commission on Arbitration & ADR, in partnership with the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris and the Nigerian Bar Association, on the topic: “INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND ADR: THE AFRICAN JOURNEY SO FAR AND LOOKING FORWARD”. She will speak at the panel “AFRICAN DOCTRINE REGARDING INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION: A NECESSARY REVOLUTION” on Thursday 1 June 2023 alongside Clémence Assou, Habibatou Touré, Alain Fénéon, Adama Soro and Alexandre Vaggenheim.

There will also be distinguished professors, colleagues and jurists, and in particular: Claudia Salomon, Diamana Diawara, Ghiyta Iraqi, Achilles Ngwanza, Mouhamed Kebe, Joachim Bile Aka, Mohamed Shelbaya, George Bermann, Marily Paralika, Thomas Kendra, Charles Nairac, Alexander Fessas, Sabrina Aïnouz, Michael Ostrove, Samantha Nataf, Clement Fouchard, Sylvie Bebohi, Pierre Daureu, Chérine Ftouki.

All program information and registration can be found at: https://2go.iccwbo.org/icc-european-conference-on-international-arbitration.html#programme.

🏆 Medici is once again recognised by The Legal 500 in the "Europe, Middle East & Africa > France > Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration" ranking: "The Medici team bring together lawyers who have extensive experience in international commercial and investment arbitration".

👏 Congratulations to our entire team without whom this new Legal 500 ranking would not have been possible! The Medici team would also like to warmly thank its clients and peers for their trust and recommendations.

To access the ranking, click here.

⭐The Women's Foundation is back with a new edition of the Nuit des Relais, a solidarity fundraising evening to advance women's rights and fight against the violence they suffer. Because equality and women's rights are part of the DNA of the Medici For Equality Endowment Fund, Medici's team members have committed to take turns every 8 minutes on a running track on 18 April 2023 on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris!

💜La Nuit des Relais is not just a sports challenge, it is above all a solidarity event! The Medici for Equality Endowment Fund has committed to collect at least 1000 euros of donations before the event. These donations will be directly transferred by the Women's Foundation to associations that act on the ground to ensure the respect of women's rights and help women victims of violence or in precarious situations.

🥇Support our Medici For Equality Endowment Fund team by making a donation now, by clicking on this link: https://collecter.fondationdesfemmes.org/projects/medici-for-equality-815

Aurélien Zuber participated as a speaker on 16 March 2023 at the ICC DRS Africa Yaounde Conference on the prevention and resolution of disputes in infrastructure, mining and energy projects. In particular, his intervention focused on the topic of the prevention and management of contractual risks in major projects. Organised at the occasion of the centenary of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Aurélien had the opportunity to analyse the challenges of contract management, one of Medici's core activities, and to share his experience in this respect.

This speaking engagement followed the one he had on 10 March 2023 in Ivory Coast during the Abidjan Arbitration Day organised by ICC YAAF and for which he intervened on the enforcement of arbitral awards in the OHADA region, another of Medici's main areas of practice.

Decision of the French Court of Cassation, Pole 01 - Civil Chamber 01, February 1, 2023, No. 21-25.024.

🔊 The judgment of the French Court of Cassation dated February 1, 2023 (n°21-25.024), related to a case in which the contract contained a multi-tiered dispute resolution clause providing for mediation and, in case of failure to settle, for arbitration. However, the claimants referred the matter to the arbitral tribunal without complying with the mediation prerequisite. In a partial award dated September 10, 2018, the arbitral tribunal declared that it had jurisdiction to decide on all the claims brought before it, while (i) noting that the dispute fell within the scope of the mediation clause and (ii) inviting the parties to initiate a mediation procedure in parallel to the arbitration procedure.

On November 23, 2021 (No. 18/22099), annulment proceedings were initiated before the Paris Court of Appeal based on the lack of jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal due to the failure to comply with the pre-arbitration mediation clause.

❓ Does the non-compliance with a pre-arbitration mediation clause fall within the purview of the French annulment judge to control whether an arbitral tribunal wrongly upheld or declined jurisdiction?

❌ The previous answer provided by French case law was “No”. Indeed, French judges considered that the defense based on a breach of a mandatory pre-arbitration mediation clause did not constitute an objection to the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, but was a matter of inadmissibility of the claim, and therefore was not subject to the control of jurisdiction exercised by the annulment judge. As a consequence, it was not considered as a relevant ground justifying the annulment of an arbitral award (CA Paris June 28, 2016 - No. 15/03504, January 29, 2019- No. 16/20822, May 25, 2021- No. 18/27648).

🤔 However, in the case at stake, the Court of Appeal, in a decision of November 23, 2021, answered surprisingly “Yes”: it held that the non-compliance with the pre-arbitration mediation clause was “not, in this case, a matter of inadmissibility falling within the assessment of the Court of Appeal but constituted a factual circumstance of the case that had to be taken into account to assess the violation of Article 1492, 1°, of the French Code of Civil Procedure”.

❌ Ultimately, the answer remains “No” for the Court of Cassation. In its judgment of February 1, 2023 (21-25.024), it indeed confirmed in a brief recital that “the failure to comply with a mediation clause is a question of admissibility and not of jurisdiction and thus, the Court of Appeal violated the aforementioned text”.

Valence Borgia, partner at Medici Law firm, spoke on 25 January 2023 at the annual ceremony against ordinary sexism in business organised by the French Association of Diversity Managers (AFMD) in partnership with the teams of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.

Launched in 2018, the #StOpE initiative, under the high patronage of Isabelle Rome, Minister Delegate in charge of Equality between women and men, aims to pool energies in order to fight against ordinary sexism in companies and to spread actions on this subject. Today, more than 200 companies are signatories to the project.

During her speech, Valence Borgia highlighted the importance of the law in the fight against sexism by presenting the various victories of the Women's Foundation's (Fondation des Femmes) Legal Force, an association of which she is a board member.

You can watch Valence's intervention here.