Registration has opened for the International Bar Association conference on Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Africa coming up in Accra, Ghana on the 15-16 November 2018.
According to Anthony Atata, the Vice Chair of the IBA-African regional forum,the conference is organised by the IBA African Regional Forum and the IBA Litigation Committee.
The conference will be held at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.
To register, click here or visit
https://www.ibaafricaconference.org/2018/
Conference Programme
Day 1 , Thursday November 15, 2018
WORKING PROGRAMME
08:00 – 09:00 – Registration
09:10 – 09:20 – Welcome Address and Keynote Address
09:20 – 09:30 – Introduction to the IBA and IBA Litigation Committee
Panel
09:30 – 10:30 – The Changing Law Firm Model and Litigation
The session will discuss whether traditional litigation practice model in Africa based on the individual litigator, the “chambers” system and solo practice will survive the evolving trend of globalization and growth of specialized practice
10:30 – 11:00 – Coffee/Tea Break
Panel
11:00 – 12:30 – OHADA, Foreign Dispute Resolution Centres and Africa
Has the advent of OHADA in francophone Africa enhanced the resolution of business disputes? What are the matters arising and lessons learnt? Is Africa losing out to foreign dispute resolution centres as a result of the delays in the resolution of business disputes?
Panel
12:30 – 13:00 – The IBA Guidelines on Party Representation: Should it be implemented in Africa now or in the distant future?
13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch
Topical Issues
Panel
14:00 – 15:30 – Procedures and the rules of court in a digital world: what is new and what should African lawyers be doing
15:30 – 16:00 – Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:30 – The Judgment Project – Lessons in overcoming the challenges of enforcement of judgments and awards in Africa
17:30 – Closing
19.00 – Opening Party
Conference Programme
Day 2 , Friday November 16, 2018
WORKING PROGRAMME
08:30 – 09:30 – Plenary
The impact of technology and artificial intelligence – how it is impacting on the law and litigation: Is Africa lagging behind and will it replace the litigation or enhance the litigator’s role?
10:30 – 11:00 – Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:30 – Breakout Session
Session 1 – Prosecuting corrupt officials and chasing stolen cash: Asset tracing strategies and the case of Western Finance Institutions and Investment Havens
Session 2 – Is judicial corruption and incompetence under mining confidence in the Judiciary in Africa?
12:30 – 13:00 – Intellectual Property and technology related litigation – what is required? Presentation followed by Q&A
13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:30 – Specialized interest litigation Sessions
Litigating construction contracts: basic flaws, lessons and matters arising
Lecture / Panel
Human rights and public interest litigation
Public interest is critical to the survival of any society but is the lack of the courts and funding sources driving lawyers away from public interest litigation? What can be done to generate interest?
Oil and Gas
15:30 – 16:00 – Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:30 – Plenary – Panel
Preparing for the future: Will the rise of written advocacy in the arbitration fora kill oral advocacy?
Training the future advocate: Are African law regulators and law schools adopting the right approach to training and preparing African litigation practitioners for the digital age?
17:30 – Closing
