A Douala law firm, practicing in two legal traditions
Enonchong Chambers advises businesses and individuals across OHADA business law, litigation and arbitration, private client matters and criminal defense. The Chambers works in English and in French, and in both the common law and the civil law systems of Cameroon.
Two legal systems, one practice
Cameroon governs itself under two inherited legal traditions at once. The common law applies in the North West and South West Regions; a civil law system of French inspiration applies in the other eight. Legislation is published in both official languages, and the two versions do not always agree. A firm that works in only one language, or only one tradition, sees half the picture.
Enonchong Chambers was founded in 1970 by Barrister Henry N. A. Enonchong, PhD, who wrote the first treatise on Cameroonian constitutional law and was among the founders of the Cameroon Bar Association. The Chambers is led today by Barrister Sylvain Oum Enonchong, PhD, with a team of ten lawyers.
- 1970
- Year founded
- 10
- Lawyers in the Chambers
- 2
- Legal traditions practiced
- 17
- Areas of practice
What the Chambers does
The practice is general. It covers commercial and corporate work for businesses, contentious work before the Cameroonian courts and in arbitration, and the private client matters that families bring.
OHADA and business law
The Uniform Acts govern most commercial activity in Cameroon and prevail over contrary national law. The Chambers advises on company law, security interests, insolvency and enforcement across the seventeen OHADA States.
Read more02Company formation
Incorporation of SARL, SA and SAS companies, registration in the RCCM through the CFCE, statutory publication, and the tax, social security and labour registrations that follow.
Read more03Litigation
Representation before the Courts of First Instance, High Courts, the ten Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court, in both the common law and civil law traditions.
Read more04Arbitration and mediation
Drafting and testing arbitration agreements, conduct of arbitral proceedings, and enforcement or challenge of awards under the OHADA Uniform Act on Arbitration and the CCJA Rules.
Read more05Debt recovery
Injunction to pay proceedings, attachment of receivables, bank accounts and movable assets, and enforcement of judgments, under the Uniform Act revised in 2023.
Read more06Insolvency and restructuring
Advice to debtors and to creditors on conciliation, preventive settlement, judicial reorganisation and liquidation, and on the ranking and proof of claims.
Read moreBarrister Henry N. A. Enonchong, PhD
He read law by correspondence while working as a sanitary officer, sailed for England in 1960, took the LLB at the University of London and was called to the English Bar at Gray's Inn. He took the LLM at Howard University and the degree of Doctor of Comparative Jurisprudence at Georgetown in 1967. He taught at the Federal University of Yaounde, served as Director of Cabinet at the Ministry of Justice, and founded these chambers in 1970.
Who you will work with
Barrister Sylvain Oum Enonchong, PhD
Managing Partner
Doctor of private law and member of the Cameroon Bar since 2015. Heads the Chambers and lectures at the University of Buea.
Barrister Henry N. A. Enonchong, PhD
Founder (1934 to 2008)
Founder of the Chambers in 1970. Author of the first treatise on Cameroonian constitutional law and a founder of the Cameroon Bar Association.
Barrister [Full Name]
Senior Associate
Litigation and arbitration. [Replace with a two-line biography.]
Practical notes on Cameroonian law
Written for people dealing with a specific problem, not for other lawyers. Each note sets out what the law requires, what the periods are, and which documents are needed.
How to register a company in Cameroon
The official target is 72 hours through the CFCE. What actually determines the timetable is the choice of form, whether a notary is required, and the documents assembled before the file is opened.
SuccessionSuccession law in Cameroon: what an estate is governed by
Three bodies of law can apply to the same estate, and which one applies to a given asset is usually the whole question. A family holding property in Douala and in Bamenda faces both regimes at once.
Family lawDivorce procedure in Cameroon
The election made at the celebration of the marriage, monogamous or polygamous, governs its property and succession consequences and is difficult to alter afterwards. It usually decides more than the grounds relied on.
Debt recoveryThe 2024 OHADA debt recovery reform: shorter periods, faster enforcement
The revised Uniform Act came into force on 16 February 2024. Every significant period in the injunction to pay procedure is now shorter than it was, and a debtor working from the old deadlines loses the right to be heard.
Speak to the Chambers
Enonchong Chambers receives clients at its offices at 305 rue Alfred Saker in Akwa, Douala. Correspondence in English and in French is answered in the language in which it is written.