Understanding the Role of the Public Independent Conciliators in Dispute Resolution Under the Decentralisation Laws of Cameroon

Abstract

One of the fruits of Law No. 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 Instituting the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities is the introduction of the Offices of the Public Independent Conciliators for the North-West and South-West Regions. These Offices came to light because of one of the resolutions of the Grand National Dialogue caused by the Anglophone crisis that broke up in 2016. This led to the granting of a “Special Status” to the two English speaking Regions in line with Article 62(2) of the Constitution. These Offices have as their prime role to examine and amicably settle disputes between users and regional and council administrations. This paper aims to understand the role of the Public Independent Conciliators in dispute resolution and provide literature on this area of the law since legal literature in this domain is still at its infancy. To attain these objectives, we adopted a doctrinal research methodology. The paper makes use of both primary and secondary data. Primary data was obtained from legal instruments related to the field of study. We also interviewed some key stakeholders concerned with the Offices. Secondary data included the exploitation of the annual reports and academic publications on the Offices of the Public Independent Conciliators. Our findings reveal that, the 2019 Code and 2020 Decree regulating the Offices of the Public Independent Conciliators has given them enormous powers to settle disputes between users and regional and council administrations. However, the Offices are beset with some challenges in executing the missions ascribed to them. Some of these challenges are based on the persistence of the Anglophone crisis in these two regions and the difficulties surrounding the execution of mediation agreements (memorandum of understanding). We therefore recommend that, legal reforms should be proposed by the Public Independent Conciliators and adopted by the legislature to ease enforcement of mediation agreements.