Mauritius

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General Overview of Mauritius

Mauritius is an island state in the Indian Ocean, located 868 kilometres East of Madagascar and 172 kilometres East-Northeast of Reunion. The country consists of the main island of Mauritius as well as Rodrigues Island, which is located 560 kilometres East of Mauritius’ coast. The more distant islands of Agaléga and Saint-Brandon are also part of the country’s national territory. The total area of ​​Mauritius spans 2,040 km². The capital and largest city is Port-Louis. Mauritius was a former Dutch (1638-1710) and French (1715-1810) colony, before becoming a British colonial possession in 1810 which remained under British rule until 1968, the year of its independence. The British colony of Mauritius once included the present-day territories of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agaléga, Saint-Brandon, the Chagos archipelago and the Seychelles. The Mauritian territories were gradually reduced with the creation of a specific colony of the Seychelles in 1903 and the excision of the Chagos archipelago in 1965.[1]

The population of Mauritius is multiethnic, multiconfessional, multicultural and multilingual. The three official languages ​​of Mauritius are English, Creole and French. However, many Mauritians also speak Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, and other languages due to the diverse origins of the Mauritian population. Mauritius is highly rated in terms of democracy and economic and political freedoms. Mauritius' Human Development Index is the highest in Africa. Similar to the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its flora and fauna, with several species endemic to the country. The island is particularly famous for the dodo, a flightless bird, which along with other endemic species, became extinct soon after the arrival of the first colonists in the 17th century.[2]

Historians believe that the first visitors to Mauritius were Phoenician navigators commissioned by the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, around the year 600 BC. Arab sailors visited Mauritius regularly from the fifth century and gave it the name of Dina Arobi. It was not until the beginning of the 16th century that Portuguese navigators began to regularly visit the region. The Portuguese first settled there in 1507 and established a visiting base.[3] The island appears on the earliest Portuguese maps, with the Portuguese name of Ilha do Cirne, “Island of the Swan,” possibly due to the presence of the dodo, which was found in large numbers around this time. Another Portuguese sailor, Pedro de Mascarenhas, gave the name Mascareignes to the archipelago of islands now known as Mauritius, Rodrigues and Reunion. The island remained uninhabited until the establishment of a colony in 1638 by the United Provinces, the Dutch naming it in honour of Maurice de Nassau, Prince of Orange. It was abandoned for lack of passage of traders in 1710 and five years later, the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. Due to its strategic position, the island was nicknamed "the star and the key" of the Indian Ocean, which became and remains the island’s motto.

Mauritius’ Political and Legal System

Political Panorama of Mauritius

Between Mauritius’ independence in 1968, and 1992, when the Statute of Republic was adopted, the Queen of Great Britain served as Head of State. The Constitution, granted by a decree of the British government of England in March of 1968, is based on two fundamental precepts: the rule of law and the doctrine of the separation of powers.[4] Article 1 provides that the Republic of Mauritius is a "sovereign democratic state".[5]

The Mauritian Constitution established a parliamentary republic on March 12, 1992, with the separation of powers between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

The French Civil Code of 1804 (also known as the Napoleonic Code) was promulgated in its time in Mauritius, and remained in effect in the country even after annexation by Great Britain in 1810. It has been amended by various English laws. Today, the Mauritian legal system is a mixture of civil law and common law. The Mauritius Penal Code came into effect in 1838 based on the model of the French Penal Code and is divided into four books. The first book deals with penalties, the second with liability (“Persons punishable, excusable or responsible”), the third with offences and finally the fourth with fines.

The court system is quite close to that known in Anglo-Saxon systems. It is based on a unitary axis where the distinction between private law and public law does not lead to a difference in jurisdiction. In addition, all ordinary courts have jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. The judicial system here is made up of common law and emergency jurisdictions.[6]

Common-Law Courts

Common law courts consist of the Supreme Court, the Intermediate Court and the District Courts.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court sits at the top of the judicial hierarchy. It acts as a Court of Appeal which hears appeals from its first instance and lower courts. It also functions as the Constitutional Court.[7] It is chaired by the Chief Justice and divided into specialized chambers for civil matters, with a special division dealing only with family matters, commercial matters and criminal matters. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review all civil or criminal proceedings before any lower court and may issue such injunctions as it sees fit in order to ensure that justice is duly served by such courts.

In regards to decisions related to criminal and civil matters in the Supreme Court, there is a possibility of appeal to the Privy Council of the Queen of England. The Privy Council is a court of appeal which freely determines its jurisdiction. In practice, it follows the rules of jurisdiction which have been in place for many decades (even prior to the country's independence in 1968) by its case law, particularly in criminal matters. In civil and constitutional matters, the Council intervenes directly without the screen of a Mauritius Court of Appeal when the Supreme Court rules as a first and last resort.

The Intermediate Court

The Intermediate Court, headquartered in Port-Louis, is competent for civil disputes which exceed the rate of jurisdiction provided for the district courts. It also has criminal jurisdiction for offences that are not tried by the primary courts.

District Courts

The other courts are the District Courts, which have jurisdiction over certain civil trials and certain offences.

The Exceptional Courts

• The Assize Court is presided by a judge of the Supreme Court and is responsible for judging the most serious offences. • The Industrial Court settles disputes between employees and employers. • The Profiteering Court judges traders who have committed fines.

Legal Aid in Mauritius

The Republic of Mauritius grants legal assistance to any party eligible to receive it under the conditions established by the Legal Assistance Act. In this sense, legal aid can be granted to applicants in civil or criminal cases provided that: [i] the monthly income of the applicant is less than 10,000 rupees and his assets are worth less than 500,000 rupees; and [2] that the request for legal aid is "well-founded".[8] The procedure for obtaining legal aid entails [i] submitting a request to the relevant court stating the reason for its action, the reason for its appeal, or the nature of the extrajudicial case for which the request is made; and [ii] a declaration of honour that his financial circumstances meet the above criteria.