The dematerialization of documents of maritime freigth transportation : (study within the framework of CEMAC) ; La dématérialisation des documents de transport maritime de marchandises : (étude dans le cadre de la CEMAC)

Abstract

Paperless process and the law, a marriage of convenience. The pioneering works of Philippe Garo and Albert Dione demonstrate this enough. In the digital age, adapting law in general and maritime law to electronic commerce is a sine qua non condition for securing transactions and confidence in the digital economy. If the issue relating to the legal status of dematerialized documents is today solved by the various texts of the UNCITRAL, legislation and the doctrine laying down legal principles of functional equivalence, media neutrality and technological neutrality, many questions remain raised and are the basis of this PhD dissertation. Does dematerialized transport documentation preserve their traditional legal functions ? If the answer is positive, it nevertheless remains subject to conditions. The issuing, transmission and or transfer of the electronic transport document, a title representative of the goods, must be supervised a reliable method allowing confidentiality, integrity, and durability of medium to be ensured throughout the process of dematerialization. If on the conceptual level, the operation seems simple, it is not the same on the practical level. Intrinsic and extrinsic limits to the documentary function are as many obstacles to dematerialization that this dissertation tent to resolve. Obviously, the opportunity cost of dematerialization for companies in the CEMAC zone is strategic. The adaptation on the legislative level is to be welcomed but should be accompanied on the practical level by a true community policy of maritime transport. A maritime transport policy emphasizing the creation of common infrastructures to ensure the interconnectivity and interoperability of systems. This has the advantage to ensure the facilitation of circulation and the secure transfer of documents in the full value chain. Such a policy will also facilitate the use soon in the CEMAC zone, of the Blockchain technology that we are proposing for the dematerialization of the negotiable transport document, "a true sea ...