MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sivakumaren (Robin) Mardemootoo, Natasha Behary Paray and Jeeshna (Kaajal) Radhakissoon, Dentons Mauritius LLP
all parties are notified and the hearing is conducted before the judge seized of the merits. The witness is examined and cross-examined at that hearing, with the deposition recorded in writing by the registrar. The deposition is subsequently filed with the court registry, carries the same evidentiary value as testimony given in open court, and forms part of the record of the main proceedings. Article 324 of the Code of Civil Procedure also invests a party with the legal right to examine an adverse party on their personal answers. It is the usual practice for a motion to be made at the start of the proceedings for the examination of the adverse party if they are present in court. In order to ensure the attendance of the adverse party who may choose to be tactically absent on the day of the hearing, an application for examination is made ex parte in advance to the mas- ter by the party who intends to call them, setting out the grounds in support of the application. 8.5 Expert Evidence Expert evidence may always be tendered by a party in support of its case. It is the responsibility of the parties to call and present their own expert witnesses on issues requiring specialist knowledge, with expert reports typically furnished to the opposing party prior to trial. The court does not independently appoint experts, although it may indicate to the parties that expert evi- dence would be of assistance on a particular issue. It also retains full discretion to disregard or disallow expert evidence where it considers such evidence unnecessary. Expert evidence is subject to established common law requirements on the admissibility of opinion evidence. The purpose of expert evidence is to assist the court, which must satisfy itself that the expert’s conclusions are well founded and may not simply accept them at face value. In this regard, the court will assess whether the rea- sons given by the expert for reaching a particular con- clusion are demonstrably valid, reliable and supported by an objective evaluation of the available material. In doing so, the court will examine the information
relied upon by the expert, the process by which com- parisons were drawn, the inferences made, and the reasons underpinning the expert’s conclusions. An expert witness owes a duty of independence to the court. Their evidence should be, and should be seen to be, the product of objective and unbiased analy- sis within their area of expertise. An expert is equally under a duty to disclose any material which weighs against the propositions they advance, and not merely the evidence which supports their conclusions. The trial judge is not bound by expert evidence even where it is uncontradicted. Foreign judgments that do not relate to the capac- ity of persons must be recognised and enforced by Mauritian courts prior to execution. Under Mauritian law, there are two distinct legal regimes for the recog- nition and enforcement of foreign judgments, with the applicable regime depending on the nature and origin of the judgment in question. The vast majority of foreign judgments are enforced in Mauritius through the exequatur procedure provided for under Article 546 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Exequatur applications are made before the Supreme Court by way of praecipe supported by affidavit evi- dence and an authenticated copy of the foreign judg- ment, along with a confirmation that the judgment is not subject to an appeal. The proceedings must be served on the respondent at least 14 days before the returnable date, or, in the case of an absent defend- ant, with leave of the court. 9. Enforcement 9.1 Enforcement of Judgments In addition to the exequatur process, Mauritian law has retained, as part of its Commonwealth inherit- ance, the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1923, which provides a distinct registration mecha- nism for the recognition and enforcement of pecuniary judgments delivered by superior courts of the UK. Under this process, the judgment creditor must, within 12 months of the date of the judgment, make an ex parte or summons application before the Supreme
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