If the current legal framework applicable to commercial litigations creates a two-tier justice system, one should note that the law relative to commercial jurisdictions (i.e. the organic law n°2016-1110 dated December 8th 2016 relative to the creation, the organization and the functioning of the commercial jurisdictions) is likely to provide a swift commercial justice. This is due to the fact that this law put the emphasis on the celerity of the procedures applicable before the commercial jurisdictions and reduce to the maximum the liberty of the judges and the department of public prosecutions concerning the conduct of the procedure. This celerity can be observed at the level of the pilot jurisdiction which is the commercial court of Abidjan (Tribunal de Commerce d’Abidjan), and is paradoxically highlighted by the slowness that the procedure regains once brought before the Court of Appeal of Abidjan (Court d’Appel d’Abidjan). The pursued speed of the justice sometimes limits the efficiency of justice. Unlike what is provided by the current legislation, the delays applicable before the commercial jurisdictions should be more flexible depending on the complexity of the case and the necessity to order one or more expert report, for purposes of obtaining a sentence based on reality of the facts. The challenge today is to operate all the commercial jurisdictions (Courts and Tribunals) over the whole territory of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. This establishment should allow to reach definitively the equality between all defendants which is a republican principle! The issue related to the discrepancy between the different rules of procedure should be solved by the sole effect of the establishment of this jurisdictions.
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