The general
rule on costs is that
each party bears his
or her own costs. However,
at the end of litigation,
the Court normally orders
the loser to reimburse
the winner's court fees.
Legal fees are, as a
general principle not
included .In certain
parts of Cameroon where
principles of Common
Law are applicable,
the Courts are allowed
to judiciously exercise
inherent discretionary
power by ordering punitive
costs against any party
for reasons as varied
as defaultand abuse
of Court Process. Because
of judicial delays and
varied nature of the
workload of the Courts
handling Commercial
disputes it is difficult
to say how long Commercial
disputes usually take
to be heard. This is
further complicated
by the fact that there
are 2 different procedural
rules applicable in
the Country. The Civil
procedure rules, styled
after the Common Law
Civil procedure rules
applicable in the English
speaking part of Cameroon,
require the ordering
of pleadings and a trial,
while the “Procedure
Civile et Commerciale,”
styled after French
Civil Procedure is based
mainly on written submissions
and the presentation
of supporting documents.
On the overrule it would
take at least 12 months
for a Civil or Commercial
dispute to be heard
at First Instance and
about another 12 months
for it to be heard on
appeal.
