MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: André Robert and Ammar Oozeer, BLC Robert & Associates
• contractual obligations (except in commercial cases) worth more than MUR5,000 need to be sup- ported by a written document, and parole evidence is not admissible; • in any claim to rent or indemnity for the occupa- tion of immovable property, oral evidence will be admissible, when a lease is denied and is not com- pletely established in writing, to prove or disprove the occupation and the amount or payment of the indemnity, and the party suing will be entitled to the indemnity although it may result from the oral evidence given that the occupation existed under a lease; and • the Courts Act 1945, in Sections 181A to 181E, makes provision (subject to conditions) for the admissibility of the following items: (a) copies or prints made from microfilms; (b) out-of-court statements; (c) documents being or forming part of records compiled by a person acting under a duty; and (d) statements produced by computers. Regarding contractual obligations (in non-commercial cases) worth more than MUR5,000, if no written obli- gation exists, the party seeking to prove such obliga- tion may adduce other forms of written evidence as “beginning of proof in writing” (“ a commencement de prevue par écrit ”) from which one could reasonably infer the existence of the obligation. In cases where even beginning of proof is not available, a party may call the other party or a representative of the other party to examine the latter on personal answers; the answers are recorded by the court and any admission in the record can be used as proof of the existence of an obligation. In relation to an out-of-court statement where a docu- ment is or forms part of a compiled record or state- ment produced by a computer, the obligation may be proved by the production of that document or by the production of a copy thereof, or a material part thereof, authenticated in such a manner as the court deems fit. 7.5 Expert Testimony On issues which require expert evidence, each party will call its own expert witnesses. The report of each expert witness is typically tendered before the trial.
The court will not itself seek expert testimony. It is open to the parties to agree to file joint expert reports in the proceedings. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public Access to hearings is allowed to members of the pub- lic, and transcripts and minutes of the proceedings can be consulted at the registry of the court dealing with the case. Records and minutes of cases before the judge in chambers are not available to the pub- lic, while records and transcripts of cases before the Commercial Division are not easily accessible without justification. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The judge acts as an arbiter to ensure that rules of evidence and procedure are being followed and that neither counsel embarks on irrelevant lines of ques- tioning. A judge may sometimes ask clarification questions of a witness but would be cautious about the extent of doing so in order to avoid a later argu- ment that a party has not had a fair hearing. After hearing the evidence and considering submis- sions of counsel, the judge would typically reserve judgment. In straightforward matters, the judge may deliver a ruling from the bench. It is not the usual prac- tice of Mauritian courts for the judge to give a ruling on the bench and provide reasons at a later date. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings The typical duration of trials in commercial disputes is one to two years from commencement.
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
Court approval is not required to settle a lawsuit. Parties often choose that the settlement agreement they have reached be read in court and made a judg- ment of the court, after the parties have ratified the terms of the settlement agreement. If the parties are not present, judges and magistrates may allow coun- sel or attorneys to inform the court that an agreement has been reached, and the agreement is recorded
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