Texte juridique · Conférence de presse —…

Le Ministre d'État, Ministre de la Justice, tient une conférence de presse le 30 mars 2017 à Yaoundé pour présenter les mesures gouvernementales en réponse aux revendications des avocats anglophones. Il rappelle le cadre constitutionnel du bilinguisme et les actions du Président de la République, notamment la création d'une commission pour la promotion du bilinguisme et la mise en place d'un comité ad hoc. Les revendications portent sur l'absence de version anglaise du droit OHADA, la…

REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Paix – Travail – Patrie REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace – Work – Fatherland

PRESS CONFERENCE

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

Mr. LAURENT ESSO MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTER OF JUSTICE, KEEPER OF THE SEALS

CLAIMS BY ANGLOPHONE LAWYERS

YAOUNDE, 30 MARCH 2017

Good afternoon,

Dear Journalists, Friends of mine.

Before beginning our discussion, let me introduce the personalities who are accompanying the Minister of Justice.

Pr Jacques FAME NDONGO, Minister of Higher Education whom you know very well;
Mr Michel Ange ANGOUING, Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform;
Mr. Michel Ange ANGOUING is a Super scale Legal Officer;
Mr Alamine Ousmane MEY, Minister of Finance;
Mr Jean Pierre FOGUI, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee in charge of examining and proposing solutions to the concerns relating to the functioning of the judiciary;
Mr George GWANMESIA, Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Member of the Ad Hoc Committee;
Madam Florence ARREY, Director of Judicial Professions in the Ministry of Justice; And of course your all time Friend
Mr Issa TCHIROMA BAKARY, Minister of Communication;

Our discussion will focus on measures that the President of the Republic has instructed the Government to take in order to provide answers to the claims presented by some Lawyers regarding the functioning of the Judiciary.

I would like to present my communication to you in French, the English version is available.

At the end of the presentations, we will take 3 or 4 questions for those who would like to complete the information that we have provided you with.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Journalists, Friends of mine,

In October 2016, some Anglophone lawyers took to the streets of the jurisdictions of the Courts of Appeal of the North West and South West Regions.

After these demonstrations, claims were made with respect to the functioning of our judicial system.

I would like to state that these concerns were not directly addressed to the Ministry of Justice, but rather to the President of the Republic who, in accordance with the Constitution "through his arbitration, ensures the proper functioning of public authorities".

The Head of State therefore instructed me to grant this press conference, with the view to discussing a number of issues and to present solutions recommended by the Government to deal with them.

In order that we all speak the same language, it could be sensible to indicate that Article 1 (3) of the Constitution provides: "The official languages of the Republic of Cameroon shall be English and French, both languages having equal value".

The Cameroonian therefore in his dealings with the public authorities can express himself in one or the other of the two languages, regardless of whether he is in the English-speaking Regions or the French-speaking Regions.

This is legal, this is legitimate

Government is determined to ensure the promotion of effective bilingualism throughout the country.