SECTION 13

Where a dispute, pending before an arbitral tribunal in accordance with an arbitration agreement, is submitted to a national court, the latter shall, upon request of one of the parties, decline its jurisdiction. Where the dispute has not yet been referred to an arbitral tribunal, the national court shall nonetheless decline jurisdiction unless the arbitration agreement is manifestly null and void. In any event, the national court shall not of its own motion decline jurisdiction. However, the existence of an arbitration agreement shall not prevent a court, upon request of one party, in the event of recognised urgency or where the measures shall be executed in a State which is not a party to OHADA, from ordering interim or conservatory measures, as long as this does not involve the hearing on the merits of the substantive dispute, over which the arbitral tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction.