Challenges justifying the necessary harmonization of economic and financial criminal laws in O.H.A.D.A. space

Abstract

Some African countries have decided to create the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (O.H.A.D.A.) to build a common legal space to meet their economic and social needs. This organization results from their desire to standardize their legislation to find solutions to the persistent economic sluggishness generating endemic mass unemployment. Its primary purpose is to restore confidence to investors who, for a long time, have turned their backs on Africa because of the obsolescence, scattering, and extreme heterogeneity of its legislation of an economic nature. With this in mind, the Community body has introduced several uniform laws conducive to economic activity between Member States. That raises the question of security within this regional space. Appearing as a strategic weapon, the regional legislator has put legal means of protection on the civil level, which unfortunately proves to be insufficient. Because of this, recoursing to criminal law is necessary. However, we note that the member states of the O.H.A.D.A. consider the penal field their preserve. The corollary of this national character results in a need to move towards unifying the penal field within the framework of an organization of integration, which is O.H.A.D.A. That constitutes a problematic challenge regarding determining a penal policy in the regional space.