: 
UPDATE: Researching
Cameroonian Law
By Charles Manga Fombad
Charles Manga Fombad is a Professor of law in
the Department of Law, University of Botswana. He holds a Licence en Droit
(University of Yaounde), LL.M. and Ph. D. (University of London) and a Diploma
in Conflict Resolution (University of Uppsala). He was, from 2003-2006,
Professor Honorarius of the
Department of Jurisprudence, School of Law, University of South Africa.
Professor Fombad is the author of 7 books and has published more than 50 articles in international refereed journals, more than a
dozen book chapters as well as numerous other publications and conference
papers. In 2003, Professor Fombad received the Bobbert Association Prize for
the best first article in the Journal for
Juridical Science. He was also awarded the Wedderburn Prize in 2003 for a paper that appeared in the “Modern
Law Review.” For three years, 2004, 2005 and 2007, Professor Fombad received
the special commendation award from the University of Botswana Research Awards
Committee as runner up on each occasion to the University Researcher of the
Year. He is a member of the editorial board of several international journals.
He is presently the founding Editor-in-Chief of the “University of Botswana Law Journal” and Consultant Editor of the “BIAC Journal of Business, Management
and Training.” Professor Fombad
teaches several courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. His
research interests are in legal history, torts, media law, constitutional law,
and international law.
Published September 2009
Table of
Contents
Current Court System Structure
Legal research guides, legal
web sites directories, law lists, libraries’ and legal citation guides
Selected Bibliography of Cameroonian Secondary Law Books
Cameroon, with a total
land area of 475,440 square kilometers, is located in Western Africa, bordering
the Atlantic Ocean, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo to the South,
Central African Republic and Chad to the east, Lake Chad to the north and
Nigeria to the west. The population of 18,879, 301 (July 2009 estimates), is
made up of an extraordinary diversity of about 250 tribes speaking at least 280
different indigenous languages. To this complex mix is superimposed a
bi-cultural division between a minority Anglophone community from the former
British trust territory of Southern Cameroons, who make up about 20% of the
population and occupy two of the ten administrative regions in the country, and
a dominant Francophone community from the former French Cameroun who make up
80% of the population and occupy the rest of the eight administrative regions.
The English and French languages are constitutionally recognized as the
official languages, though most official communications are usually in the
dominant French language. However, Pidgin English, a common lingua franca in
English-speaking West Africa, is widely spoken in the Anglophone regions and in
some of the major towns in the Francophone regions which have a substantial
Anglophone community.
The Portuguese are considered to
be the first Europeans who arrived on Cameroon's coast in the 1500s, but
malaria prevented any significant settlement and conquest of the interior until
the late 1870s. The country's name is derived from “Camaroes,” meaning shrimps,
so-called by the Portuguese explorer Fernando Po, who named the River Wouri “Rio
dos Camaroes" (Shrimp River), after the many shrimps. However, it was at
the Berlin Conference of 1884 that all what is now Cameroon and parts of
several of its neighbors became the German colony of “Kamerun.” Their presence
lasted until 1916 when, during the First World War, a combined British and
French expeditionary force defeated the Germans in Cameroon and proceeded to
divide the territory into two unequal parts. The British took control of two
disconnected portions which they labeled Northern and Southern Cameroon
respectively, whilst the French took the larger portion, constituting about
four-fifths of the territory. This
arbitrary division was later recognized by the League of Nations which
conferred mandates on the two powers to administer the territories on June 28,
1919. The mandates were later superseded by trusteeship agreements on the
creation of the United Nations in 1945. The British administered their portion
as part of their neighboring colony of Nigeria whilst the French made theirs
part of their colony of French Equatorial Africa. In an UN-conducted plebiscite
of February 11, 1961, Southern Cameroon voted in favor of gaining independence
by reuniting with the French Cameroun, which had already become independent on
January 1, 1960, whilst Northern Cameroon voted in favor of remaining as part
of Nigeria. On September 1, 1961, the Southern Cameroon and the newly
independent French Cameroun were formally reunited as the "Federal
Republic of Cameroon."
The legal system, like most in
Africa, is a relic of the colonial era. However, it is unique in that it consists of two distinct and often
conflicting legal systems, the English common law and the French civil law
operating in some sort of tenuous coexistence. This makes Cameroon one of the
few examples of such a dual legal system in the world.
Three major periods can best
explain the nature and evolution of the legal system namely, the pre-colonial,
the colonial and the post-independences periods.
In the pre-colonial Cameroonian
society, there existed diverse unwritten indigenous laws and usages which
applied in varying degrees to the different ethnic groups. The only exception
was in the north where the Foulbe tribes, who originally invaded the territory
from North Africa in the early nineteenth century, had introduced Islamic laws.
Despite the differences in the structures, content and institutions which
applied these indigenous and Islamic laws or traditional laws as they are
referred to today, there were many similarities. A German attempt to ascertain
and codify the different traditional laws was frustrated by the outbreak of the
First World War, but the results from the six tribes that were studied showed
that there were substantial similarities in basic concepts and practices. The
traditional system of justice was administered by a series of ad
hoc bodies ranging from the family head, quarter head, chief and the
chief’s council. Perhaps the most remarkable and controversial aspect of this
system of justice was the extensive use of trial by ordeal. The commonest
examples of this involved drinking poisonous concoctions, putting the hands in
boiling palm oil or water, or holding
a red-hot iron bar. If the accused came to no harm, then his innocence
was considered as proven.
During the German colonial period,
a rudimentary system of administration was established. Two parallel systems of
Courts, one exclusively for Europeans where German law was applied, and the
other exclusively for Cameroonians, where traditional law under the control and
supervision of the Germans was applied.
The League of Nations’ agreement
with the French and British conferred on these two powers, in Article 9, “full
powers of administration and legislation.” The two powers were authorized to
administer Cameroon in accordance with their laws and as an integral part of
their territory, subject to such modifications as may be required by the local
conditions. This was the basis for the almost wholesale exportation of the
English common law and the French civil law to Cameroon. There were significant
differences in the policies they pursued in introducing their respective
systems of justice. The British, like the Germans and French, also operated two
parallel systems of courts, but unlike them, this was not separated on racial
lines. One structure was for the traditional sector of the population, mainly Cameroonians,
and the other was for the modern sector, mainly Europeans or those Cameroonians
who opted for it. The applicable law was based on Section 11 of the Southern
Cameroons High Court Law (SCHCL), 1958, which provided for the application of
English common law, the doctrines of equity and statutes of general application
which were in force in England on January 1, 1900. On the basis of this, a
number of English statutes as well as Nigerian laws and Ordinances were made
applicable to Southern Cameroons. Through the system of “indirect rule,”
traditional institutions and laws were retained provided they were not
repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience or incompatible with
any existing laws. In French Cameroun, the French in line with their policy of
assimilation made a strict distinction between citizens, who were defined as
either French nationals or Cameroonians who had evolved and were honored with
that status (and there was hardly any), and the ordinary Cameroonians who were
derogatorily referred to as “sujet”(indigenous people). Based on this, two
systems of justice were administered; one for the Cameroonian population in
accordance with traditional laws, and another, for French nationals in
accordance with French law. French administrators presided over the traditional
courts and used the local chiefs and notables merely as assistants or
assessors.
The federal system that came into
existence in 1961 was based on a two-state federation consisting of West
Cameroon, made up of the former Southern Cameroons, and East Cameroon, made up
of the former French Cameroun. Until the country became the "United
Republic of Cameroon" in 1972 when a unitary system of government was
introduced, the two federated states had each retained their inherited colonial
system of justice although this was under the control of a Federal Ministry of
Justice. However, the early
history of the independent and reunified Cameroon was marked by strides towards
complete political and legal unification. By 1964, two Federal Law Reform
Commissions had been created to draw up a Penal Code, a Criminal Procedure Code
and several other Codes. Its only achievement was the 1967 Penal Code which remains
the only reasonably successful legislation that reflects the country's dual
legal culture, although it was substantially based on the French Penal Code.
Based on the unitary Constitution of 1972, Ordinance no.72/4 of August 26,
1972, which has since been amended several times, created a civilian- style
unitary system of Courts to replace the different court structures that had
operated in the two states. Nevertheless, article 38 of the Constitution
provided for the continuous application of the different laws that were in
force in the two legal districts provided these were not inconsistent with any
new laws. As a result of this, despite the unified court structure, the two
pre-independence legal systems continued to operate. The 1972 Constitution has
been amended on several occasions, though the most significant and substantial
was in 1996 in response to pro-democracy nation-wide strikes and demonstrations
that had started in the early 1990s.
Since the reunification of the two
portions of Cameroon, successive Constitutions have indirectly sanctioned the
co-existence of the English and French legal systems in the country. With
respect to this, the 1996 amendment states in Article 68:
“The
legislation applicable in the Federal State of Cameroon and in the Federated
States on the date of entry into force of this Constitution shall remain in
force insofar as it is not repugnant to this Constitution, and as long as it is
not amended by subsequent laws and regulations.”
The Cameroonian legal
system can therefore be described as bi-jural in which French law applies in
the eight French speaking regions and English law substantially applies in the
two English speaking regions, although most of the uniform laws that are now
being introduced are essentially based on French legal concepts.
The legal system as well as the sources of law
applicable in the country has been significantly shaped by the dual
English-French colonial legal heritage that has given rise to its dual legal
system in the country. The main sources of Cameroonian law are the
Constitution, legislation, judicial precedents and customary law.
Since independence and the
reunification of the former British Southern Cameroons and the French Cameroun,
the country can be said to have had at least three different Constitutions and
numerous constitutional amendments. What can be considered to be the first
Constitution was in reality the Constitution under which French Cameroun became
independent on 1 January 1960. The second Constitution was in reality simply an
amendment of the 1960 Constitution of the French Cameroun in 1961, when the
British and French administered parts of the country were reunited and was
styled as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, which ushered
in a highly centralized federal system. On 2 June 1972, after a referendum, a
new unitary Constitution was adopted and the name of the country was changed to
the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1984, the appellation “United Republic” was
replaced with “Republic.” What is currently in force is this 1972 Constitution
although it was substantially amended in a rather controversial manner in 1996
with a new text of 69 articles replacing the old text of 39 articles.
Although not explicitly so-stated,
the Cameroonian Constitution is treated as the supreme law of the land. Article
2(1) vests national sovereignty in the people who exercise this either through
the President of the Republic and members of the Parliament or by way of
referendum.
The Cameroonian Constitution distinguishes between
parliamentary power to legislate (le pouvoir législatif) in Article 26
and the governmental power to issue rules and regulations (le pouvoir
réglementaire) in implementation of parliamentary legislation in Article
27.
Article 26 is the principal
provision in the Constitution that specifies in considerable details the scope
of the Cameroon Parliament’s legislative competence. This article, in broad
terms, identifies six areas that fall within the reserved legislative domain (domaine
de la loi).
The parliamentary power to
legislate has been complimented by governmental power to issue regulations in
implementation of such legislation. Express governmental intervention in the
legislative domain under the Cameroonian Constitution is provided for on two
different occasions. The first is provided for by Article 27, which states that
“matters not reserved to the legislative power shall come under the
jurisdiction of the authority empowered to issue rules and regulations.” This
has the effect of giving the Government the right to enact “laws” in its own
right by way of “rules and regulations” in all matters not reserved for
Parliament under Article 26. The President of the Republic (Article 8(5)), the Prime
Minister (Article 12(3), and a host of other government officials share this
general power to issue rules and regulations. The second major instance of
governmental intervention is provided for in Article 28 of the Constitution.
According to this provision, Parliament may, on matters falling within its
reserved legislative domain, “empower the President of the Republic to
legislate by way of ordinance for a limited period and for given purposes.” To
be valid, such ordinances must be tabled before the bureau of the National
Assembly and the Senate for purposes of ratification within the time limit laid
down by the enabling law.
Unlike legislation, the role of judicial
precedent as a source of law in Cameroon depends on whether one is in the
English speaking Anglophone or French speaking Francophone regions of the
country.
The English legal
system on which the law applied in the Anglophone regions is based on treats
judicial precedent differently from the way the French civil law on which the
law applied in the Francophone regions is based. The English law doctrine of
binding precedent or stare decisis under which judicial precedent is a
major source of law was received in the Anglophone regions as part of the
general reception of English law. Its actual operation to render judicial
precedent an effective source of Cameroonian law is however subject to the
complexities of the judicial organization of the courts in the country.
The courts within the
country operate within a unified but decentralized court structure at the
summit of which is a single Supreme Court for the whole country that operates
more like the French Cour de Cassation rather than an English Court of
Appeal. The highest court within each of the regions is the Appeal Court. For
the two Anglophone regions, the doctrine of binding precedent operates in the
sense that the precedents laid down within each region constitute binding authority within that region. However, judicial precedent as a
binding source of law in the English regions plays but a rather limited role because of the “regionalized”
system. Although appeals may be taken from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme
Court, these are not usually handled as appeals in the strict sense of the word
and the decisions taken by the Supreme Court are at best only of persuasive
authority. To this extent, whilst judicial precedents remain an important
source of law in the Anglophone regions, because of the way the courts are
structured and actually operate, it may not be as significant as it should have
been.
Generally, the
attitude towards judicial precedent in Francophone Cameroon is different.
Judiciary precedent is not regarded as a primary source of law. However,
precedents, especially of the superior courts, although not strictly binding,
are of highly persuasive value in the Francophone courts.
As
pointed out earlier, in pre-colonial Cameroon, there existed a wide variety of
what is today known simply as traditional or customary law. In this regard, the
Moslem law that was in place in large areas of the northern part of the country
was also treated as part of customary law. Both the British and the French recognized
and enforced customary law. However, not every custom or usage was recognized
and enforced as customary law. Since independence, the evolution of customary
law in the two legal districts of the country has been slightly different.
In the
Anglophone regions, the recognition and enforcement of customary law is subject
to a repugnancy test laid down in a pre-independence statute, section 27(1) of the Southern Cameroons High Court
Law, 1955, which provides for the recognition
and enforcement of only customary law which is not repugnant to natural
justice, equity and good conscience or incompatible either directly or by
implication, with any existing law. Today in the two Anglophone regions, customary law has very limited application. It only
applies to certain persons and governs only a few matters. It applies only to
persons traditionally subject to it, effectively meaning the rural population
and even then, only if they desire that this law should regulate their
relationship.
In the
Francophone regions, Decree No 69/DF/544 of 19 December 1969 on the organization
and procedure before the traditional courts in former East Cameroon, modified
by Decree No. 71/DF/607 of 3 December 1971 subjects the jurisdiction of
customary courts to the consent of all the parties, especially the defendant. A
Supreme Court decision in 1972 stated that a rule of customary law will only be
recognized and enforced if it was clear, precise and was in conformity with
public order and morals. The 1969 decree states that customary courts have
jurisdiction to handle any civil and commercial matters that have not been
expressly reserved for the modern courts and also allows matters to be handled
by career magistrates before whom lawyers can appear. The presence of career
magistrates and professional lawyers in customary courts in Francophone
Cameroon has become so rampant that these courts mostly apply modern law rather
than customary law. Because of
their jurisdiction to deal with many
civil matters such as actions for recovery of civil and commercial debts
and other contractual and tortuous claims, these courts have become the
preferred means of resolving civil disputes. It is now clear that the
distinction between customary courts and modern courts in this part of the
country has become increasingly blurred. The
only exception to this is in the northern part of the country, where Sharia law
and Sharia courts still play a large part in regulating the lives of rural
people.
Whilst laws
enacted by Parliament and some subsidiary legislation are published in the
Official Gazette of the Republic of Cameroon, which is printed by the National
Printing Press, there is no regular and efficient system of law reporting in
Cameroon. Since the 1960s, a number of short-lived but commendable efforts in
this direction have been started but quietly abandoned.
The Bulletin des Arrêts de la Cour Suprème,
begun in 1960, appeared only sporadically. François-Xavier
Mbouyom’s collection of administrative cases from 1962 to 1975 was essentially
a private venture that was not very authoritative. The series, “West Cameroon
Law Reports,” ceased publication after just three volumes; 1962-1964,
1965-1967, and 1968. Despite its stated objective to continue from where these
stopped, “The University of Yaoundé Law Reports,” appeared only once, in 1985
and covered cases decided between 1968-1970 and 1971-1973. The most recent
attempt, the “Cameroon Common Law Report,” that started in 1997 appears only
sporadically. A number of decided cases were reported in two journals that
appeared in the 1990s, viz the Lex Lata,
and the Revue de Legislation et de Jurisprudence
Camerounaise.
The courts in the country can be
divided into two main categories viz, courts with ordinary jurisdiction and courts
with special jurisdiction. The former, have powers to hear all matters, such as,
civil, criminal and labor disputes. Safe for the Supreme Court which has
jurisdiction over the whole national territory, the ordinary courts are highly
decentralized. Within this category there are two types. The first are courts
which have original jurisdiction in the sense that they have the power to hear
matters at first instance. These consist of:
·
Traditional Law Courts, which operate at village or
tribal level
·
Magistrates' Courts, which operate at sub-divisional
level, although they usually cover several subdivisions, and
·
High Courts, which operate at divisional level, but
they also often cover several divisions
The second consists of courts with
appellate jurisdiction. While the High Court has limited appellate
jurisdiction, the main appellate courts are the Court of Appeals which are
located in the headquarters of each of the ten regions. The judicial bench, one
of the three benches of the Supreme Court,
sometimes operates as an “appellate” court, in the sense that it can quash, on
an application to it, a judicial decision which it considers to have mistakenly
interpreted the law. It does not decide the matter itself, but usually
instructs a lower court of similar standing to the one from which the matter
came to do so. Nevertheless, since it is usually saddled with a heavy backlog
of administrative and institutional disputes, and has generally been slow and
inefficient, a party who “appeals” a matter from the regional Courts to it
usually does so more to delay and frustrate the other party than to achieve
anything else.
Courts with special jurisdiction
deal with either specified matters provided for by law, or a particular class
of persons. Besides the Constitutional Council, the amended Constitution also
provided for the creation of a set of Administrative and Audit Courts
decentralized along the lines of the ordinary courts. With the perennial
problem of shortage of qualified personnel, it is not surprising that only recently some steps have been taken to
establish some of these courts. For example, the functions of the
Constitutional Council are being performed by the Administrative bench of the
Supreme Court. Law No. 2006/016 of 29 December 2006 fixing the organization and
functions of the Supreme Court provided for the Administrative bench divided into
five divisions. It acts as the final appellate court for final decisions handed
down by lower administrative courts.
Similarly, the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, established under Law
No. 2003/005 of 21 April 2003, with five divisions, operates as a court of
final instance in audit matters.
Three Courts with
special jurisdiction are provided for under the constitution and other pieces
of legislation. First is the Court of Impeachment, which has powers
to try the President for treason, and ministers as well as some senior pubic
officials for conspiracy against the security of the state. Second, there is
the Military Court located in Yaoundé. Its jurisdiction is defined in such
broad and vague terms that civilians have been brought and convicted by it in
circumstances where their cases would have been dismissed by the ordinary criminal
courts. Finally, there is a State Security Court that has exclusive
jurisdiction to try felonies and misdemeanors against the internal and external
security of the state and related offences.
The Ministry of Justice directs,
coordinates and supervises Government policy with regard to the administration
of justice as well as oversees and supervises its key actors. The latter are
made up of persons who dispense or demand justice, such as judges of the bench
and prosecuting judges and the auxiliaries of justice who ensure the smooth
operation of the administration of justice by either assisting the judge, for
instance Court Registrars and judicial police officers, or assisting the
parties such as, advocates and notaries.
The judges who preside over
Traditional Law Courts are usually appointed by the Minister of Justice from
notables and other persons knowledgeable in the customs and traditions of the
area to be served. Other judges are appointed from persons with at least a
Master's degree in law who have undergone two- year training at the National
School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) in Yaoundé. Entry into the
school is by competitive examination, and on graduation, the intending judge
may be appointed either to the bench or to the prosecution department. As a
career profession, a judge’s progress depends on seniority and the ability to
impress senior judges, although increasingly, political loyalty and reliability
is beginning to count.
An intending advocate must be a
Cameroonian with a law degree who has obtained a certificate of proficiency to practice.
This certificate is issued only after two years of pupilage followed by passing
a qualifying examination. All advocates are members of the Cameroon Bar
Association which amongst other things maintains discipline amongst members of
the profession.
As regards the auxiliaries of
justice, Court Registrars who are appointed after studies in ENAM, assist
judges by authenticating their acts as well as keeping a minute’s book in which
they record all incidents which take place during judicial hearings. Judicial
police officers, who may be either police or gendarme officers, help the judge
in carrying out criminal investigations .Besides advocates, other auxiliaries
of justice who are primarily there to assist the parties in legal proceedings,
include; notaries who draft legal documents which are then regarded as
authentic and enforceable; process-servers who are responsible for judicial and
non-judicial notifications, and; auctioneers who appraise and value property
for sale.
Since
1972, Cameroon has had a strong centralized system of government dominated by
the President. This was reinforced in the 1996 amendment to the 1972
Constitution.
The
President of the Republic is head of state and although the Prime Minister is
described by the Constitution as the head of government, he is actually
appointed and serves at the pleasure of the President of the Republic and is
responsible for implementing policies laid down by the former. Since 1996, the
president is elected to serve a term of 7 years, once and a two term limit was
repealed in 2008 allowing the president to run for as many terms as he wants
to. He is empowered to name and
dismiss cabinet members, judges, generals, provincial governors, prefects,
sub-prefects, and heads of Cameroon's parastatal (about 100 state-controlled)
firms, obligate or disburse expenditures, approve or veto regulations, declare
states of emergency, and appropriate and spend profits of parastatal
firms. The decentralization that
was provided for in the amended Constitution only became a reality 12 years
later, when in 2008, the existing provinces were converted into regions.
Administratively, the country is divided into 10 regions, 58 divisions, 569 sub
divisions and 53 districts, the heads of which are appointed by the President.
The
amended Constitution provides for a bicameral Parliament made up of the
National Assembly and the Senate. So far, only the National Assembly, made up
of 180 members, elected for a term of five years has been established. It meets
briefly three times each year – in March, June and November. Since 1990
when political opposition was legalized, the parliament has representatives
from some of the more than 168 opposition parties that exist in the country.
However, the former one party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM)
virtually dominates parliament. Although the parliament is the main legislative
authority, because of the dominance of the executive, it merely rubber-stamps
legislation put before it by the executive.
A key innovation in
the 1996 constitution was the purported elevation of the judiciary to the
status of a “judicial power,” on the same par as the other two branches of
government, namely the executive and the legislature. This bold attempt to
break with the inherited French tradition which relegates the judiciary to a
mere department of government under the supervision of the Minister of Justice
is compromised by other provisions which make the President the guarantor of
the independence of the judiciary.
There is unlimited scope for political interference and manipulation
because the President of the Republic under the
Constitution has the powers to appoint, dismiss,
promote, transfer and discipline judicial officers, especially judges and
prosecutors. This therefore limits in a fairly significant way not only the
independence of the judiciary but also the effectiveness of the separation of
powers.
Although Article 68 of
the amended constitution follows the pattern of previous constitutions in
recognizing the bi-jural legal system, there remain serious problems in
identifying the law as applicable in many areas. It is a problem that has not
been diminished by the increasing adoption of so-called “uniform laws”
applicable in the two legal districts such as the Penal Code, the Labor Code,
Insurance Code, maritime law, banking law, arbitration, general commercial law
and company law. In most cases, these laws are simply copied from French codes
with some few finishing sprinkling of English common law notions here and there
to give a semblance of harmonization. Over the years, the approach towards law
reform that has steadily seen the introduction of “uniform laws” based
essentially on French civil law replacing English common law in many areas in
the Anglophone regions had given rise to discontent amongst the Anglophone
jurists who saw this as a sinister attempt to ultimately replace the common law
in the English speaking regions with the civil law. Matters came to a head
recently with the promulgation into law of the Treaty to Harmonize Commercial
in Africa (OHADA). This treaty, which seeks to harmonize business law in 14 French-speaking
African countries, including Cameroon, failed to take into consideration
Cameroon’s peculiar situation and therefore hardly incorporates any common law
principles. For a while, some Anglophone judges refused to apply the new Code
and eventually did so only under threats from the Ministry of Justice.
Nevertheless, there remain many serious problems with the so-called harmonized
laws. There is no consistency in the interpretation and application of such
laws because Anglophone and Francophone judges adopt sometimes diametrically
opposed techniques of statutory interpretation. For instance, Anglophone judges
rely heavily on judicial precedents whereas this is either disregarded or
treated as of minor importance in the decision-making process adopted by
Francophone judges. Perhaps the most serious problem is that there are no
settled, clear and predictable rules to govern conflicts which often arise
between the laws in the two legal districts. The uncertainty over the legal
rules in certain areas of the law has encouraged some form of “forum shopping”
with litigants resorting to the legal district which will better serve their
interest.
· Droit Francophone - This is a collection
of links to Cameroon’s legal websites including Governmental sites,
organizations, law faculties and journal Websites. Access to legislation, the
Constitution and background to the history and legal system of Cameroon are
also provided. This page forms part of the Droit
Francophone gateway a site made freely available by the Agence Intergouvernementale de la
Francophonie which offers links to legal web resources throughout the French-speaking
world. The site is available only in French.
·
CamLaw - This is a
site which aims to provide online legal research services to lawyers, academics
and business people seeking information about Cameroon Law and the legal
system. The site includes a selection of full text laws of Cameroon (in French
and English) covering criminal procedure, constitutional law and intellectual
property. There is a bibliography of books and articles dealing with
Cameroonian law and a page of links to other Cameroonian legal sites.
·
http://www.unpan.org/africa.asp
- This site contains the full-text of the constitution of the state of Cameroon
as agreed with revisions on 18th January 1996. The document sets out the nature
and structure of government in the Cameroon, including the roles of the
presidency, executive and judiciary. It also documents the rights of the
individual. At present the text is offered in French only. The site is hosted
through UNPAN - United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and
Finance.
·
Prime Minister’s Office
- This site contains full
text laws of the Republic of Cameroon made freely available on the Prime
Minister's Office Website. Legislation is listed in reverse chronological order
and can be browsed or searched by keyword, date, ministry or type of law
(ordnance, decree, order or decision). The site can be viewed in French and
English but some of the laws are available only in French.
· President of the Republic of Cameroon- This is
the official website of the President of the Republic of Cameroon. It provides
access to a biography of the current incumbent and details of his/her recent
activities. The latter includes news of official engagements, press releases
and communiqués which cover current economic, social, political and foreign
policy. Also accessible are recent issues of Le Magasin du Palais which describe recent political events.
However, most of the information is currently offered only in French.
· http://www.spm.gov.cm/ - This is the official website of the
Prime Minister of Cameroon. It provides details on the current incumbent and
his activities. This includes access to recent press releases and speeches
covering all aspects of political, economic, social and foreign policy. The
site also provides links to details of ongoing political programmes of the
government and recent legislative acts. The information is available in both
English and French.
· WorldLII-This section of WorldLII's World
Law service covers the Republic of Cameroon. A range of browse and search
features are available on the site. Browse sections highlight links relating to
Government, legislation, Parliament, other Web portals and subject areas
including cyberspace, telecommunications and taxation, revenue and customs. A
stored search will automatically search for materials relating to Cameroon on
all of World Law. This section of WorldLII was developed from work initiated by
the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII).
· Constitution Finder: Cameroon
(University of Richmond T.C. Williams
School of Law) in English and French.
· La Constitution de Cameroun (Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie) in
French.
· NATLEX: Cameroon (International Labor Organization)
database of national laws on labor, social security and related human rights.
· Multinational
Collections Database: Cameroon (Law Library of Congress) provides
bibliographic information on materials in our reference collection.
· Sources of Online Legal
Information for African Countries (Jane Williams, via GlobaLex).
·
World Directory of Parliamentary
Libraries: Cameroon (Germany
Bundestag).
·
World Legal Information Institute: Cameroon
(WorldLII).
· World Legal Materials from
Africa: Cameroon (Cornell
Legal Information).
· Portals to the World: Cameroon
(Library of Congress).
· Background Notes: Cameroon
(U.S. Dept. of State).
· Chiefs of State and Cabinet
Members of Foreign Governments: Cameroon (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency).
· Consular Information Sheet:
Cameroon (U.S.
Dept. of State).
· Country Information: Cameroon (U.S. Dept. of State).
· Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices: Cameroon (U.S. Dept. of State).
·
Governments on the WWW: Cameroon (Gunnar Anzinger).
·
Human Rights in Cameroon (Amnesty International).
·
International Religious
Freedom Annual Reports: Cameroon (U.S. Dept. of State).
·
World Factbook: Cameroon
(U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency).
·
Anyangwe, C.
The Cameroonian Judicial System Yaounde: CEPER, 1987.
·
Anoukaha, F.,
Cissé-Niang, A., Messanvi F. J &
Issa-Sayeph, Sûretés (OHADA),
Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2002.
·
Azevedo, M. (ed.), Cameroon and its National Character. Mississippi: EUGA,
1984.
·
Bokalli, V.E., and Sossa, D. E., Droit des
Transports de Marchandises par Route. Bruxelles:
Bruylant, 2007.
·
Djuidje,
B., Pluralisme Légslatif Camerounais et Droit International Prive. Paris:
L'Harmattan, 2000.
·
Enonchong, H.N.A. Cameroon Constitutional Law: Federalism in a Mixed Common-Law and
Civil-Law System. Yaounde: Centre d'Edition et de
Production de Manuels et Auxiliaires de L'Enseignement, 1967.
·
Etoundi, F.O., Biumla, J.M.M. Cinq Ans de
Jurisprudence Commentée de la Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage de l’OHADA
(CCJA) (1999-2004. Yaoundé: Presse de l’Ama, 2005.
·
Fombad, C.M. Cameroon: Constitutional Law (in
Blanpain, International Encyclopaedia of Laws – Constitutional Law). The
Hague, Kluwer Law International, 2003.
·
Fombad, C.M. Cameroon: Text of Constitution (in
Blanpain, International Encyclopaedia of Laws – Constitutional Law). The
Hague, Kluwer Law International, 2003.
·
Johnson, W. The
Cameroon Federation: Political Integration in a Fragmentary Society. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1970.
·
Kofele-Kale, N. An
Experiment in Nation Building: The Bilingual Cameroon Republic Since
Reunification. Boulder: Westview Press, 1980.
·
Le Vine, The
Cameroons from Mandate to Independence. Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1964.
·
Le Vine, The
Cameroon Federal Republic. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1971.
·
Mbah-Ndam, J., Practice and Procedure in Civil and Commercial
Litigation, Yaounde: Presses Universitaires d’Afrique,
2003.
·
Monie,
J.N. The Development of the Law and
Constitution of Cameroon. Ph.D. Thesis, London University, 1970.
·
Ndoko,
N-C., La Culpabilité en Droit Pénal
Camerounais. Paris: LGDJ, 1998.
·
Ngoh, J.N. Constitutional
Developments in Southern Cameroons, 1946-1961: From Trusteeship to Independence.
Yaounde: CEPER, 1990.
·
Ngono, S., Le Procès Pénal Camerounais au Regard des Exigences
de la Charte Africaine Des Droits De L'homme Et Des Peuples.
Paris: Editions
L'Harmattan, 2002.
·
Ntila, E., Le Respect Des Droits de la Personne au Cours
De L'instruction Préparatoire en Droit Camerounais. Yaoundé: Anrt -Atelier National, 2004.
·
Nzie, S.
N., Le Système Camerounais de
Prévention et de Règlement des Litiges de L'administration. Yaounde: Anrt
-Atelier National, 2004.
·
Owona, J. Droit Administratif
Spécial de la République du Cameroun. Paris:
Mame, 1985.
· Pougoue,
P-G, Anoukaha, F., Cisse, A., Diouf N., Toukam N., and Sam M., Sociétés
Commerciales et G.I.E, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2002.
· Prouzet,
M. Le Cameroun. Paris:
Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1974.
·
Rudin, N. Cameroun:
An African Federation. London: Pall Mall Press, 1971.