Two long term experts, 440 working days, the Head of DSM Secretariat and the Senior Officer, have been recruited to support the AFCAC in its task related to the effective implementation and establishment of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism Secretariat.
The DSM Secretariat aims to develop rules and procedures for resolving disputes related to SAATM and other African air transport legal instruments. It seeks to foster confidence, prevent conflicts, and enhance cooperation among African member states and aviation stakeholders through transparent and non-discriminatory dispute settlement mechanisms.
The experts have established successfully the grounds for the implementation of the DSM. They have identified the challenges and developed a roadmap to be followed by the competent African organs and stakeholders. They have also actively contributed to the selection of the Administrative Council. Furthermore, they have developed several activities under several streams: benchmarking missions/ awareness/ legal task as the DSM Secretariat / legal functions under the Registrar function / support to DSM supervision bodies.
Background
Article 8 - Settlement of Disputes - of the YD provides that if a dispute arises between States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the YD, the States Parties shall first endeavour to settle the dispute by negotiation, and if these States Parties fail to reach a settlement, either party may submit the dispute to arbitration in accordance with the procedures ("Dispute Settlement Mechanism Regulations") set out in Annex 3 to the YD.
Accordingly, the so-called Draft Regulations on the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM Regulations) were approved by the Extraordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC-TTIIE) – Transport Ministers - on 14-16 June 2022. In addition, the STC Ministerial Report requested that: ”the AFCAC in collaboration with the AUC (African Union Commission) and other key partners have to establish the SAATM Dispute Settlement Mechanism Administrative Council and Secretariat that will be hosted by AFCAC and reporting to the YD Monitoring Body ”.
The DSM Regulations were adopted by the 41st Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council held from 14 to 15 July 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia and endorsed by the AU Head of States in February 2023. They currently form the Annex 3 to the YD - “Regulations on Dispute Settlement under the Yamoussoukro Decision”.
Under Article 1 of Annex 3, YD it is required the creation of an Administrative Council assisted by a Secretariat (hereinafter the DSM Secretariat) as “an independent body for administering the Dispute Settlement Regulations”.
Part IV – Management of the Regulation, Annex 3 of the YD describes the functioning of the Administrative Council, its relationship with the Ministers of Transport and the YD Monitoring Body and the responsibilities of the DSM Secretariat (articles 57, 58, 59).
Under Article 48.3 the Administrative Council and the Secretariat are hosted at the headquarters of the AFCAC.
Under Article 62, it is foreseen the possibility for the Administrative Council to be financial supported through sponsorships, grants, donations gifts etc., in case its expenditure cannot be met through the Disputing Parties payments.
As a follow-up, the Project Steering Committee (PSC) approved the project’s work plan in Brussels, the 22 November 2022 and consequently endorsed the EU support for the establishment of the DSM Secretariat as one of the activities of the project. (Result 1 - Output 1.1 Support of the JPAP implementation, Activity 1.1.1.)
In addition, the 6th Meeting of Stakeholders on the Joint Prioritized Action Plan (JPAP) for the operationalization and implementation of the SAATM, jointly organized by the AUC and the AFCAC, held on 9-10 February, 2023, in Dakar, Senegal, has mandated the AFCAC ( the main beneficiary of the project) to facilitate the implementation and provide the necessary support to the establishment of the DSM Secretariat (Activity 8- Operationalization of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism Secretariat under Pillar 2 – SAATM Regulatory Framework of the JPAP/SAATM).
The profiles of all the project experts can be consulted here: https://easa-afcac.com/activit...
Posted: Dec 09, 2024
