MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: André Robert and Ammar Oozeer, BLC Robert & Associates
to pay was served on the defendant. The trial judge retains discretion as to whether pre-judgment inter- est should include the length of the trial, depending on the conduct of the plaintiff (in particular, whether the latter has been diligent in pursuing its case). It is not uncommon for the trial judge to award interest to the winning party as from the date of judgment only. In cases before the industrial court, the court may award interest as from the date of dismissal. In cases of road accidents or accidents at work, the court may award interest as from the date the action was start- ed unless there are good reasons to order interest as from the date when the pleadings were closed. 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment The typical enforcement mechanisms are as follows: • attachment (eg, of receivables or bank accounts); • inscribing a judicial mortgage on immovable prop- erty, and seizure and sale of immovable properties in accordance with the provisions of the Sale of Immovable Property Act; and/or • filing for the bankruptcy or winding-up of a judg- ment debtor. • execution by way of warrant to levy; • execution by way of writ of execution; In respect of intermediate court judgments, movable properties must be seized and sold before immovable properties are sold. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country This is done according to a procedure known as exe- quatur. An application is made to the Supreme Court by way of a motion and supporting affidavit. The evi- dence has to show that the conditions for exequatur of the foreign judgment are met, namely: • the foreign judgment is still valid and capable of execution in the country where it was delivered; • the foreign judgment must not be contrary to any principle affecting public order (meaning interna- tional, rather than domestic, public order);
• the defendant must have been regularly sum- moned to attend the proceedings in which the foreign judgment was delivered; and • the court which delivered the judgment must have jurisdiction to deal with the matter submitted to it. Once the Supreme Court has granted the exequatur, the foreign judgment can then be enforced in Mauri- tius in the same way as a domestic judgment. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation Mechanisms for appeals include: • in civil cases, appeals against the decision of a judge of the Supreme Court exercising original jurisdiction are heard by the Court of Civil Appeal which is composed of two judges; • appeals against the Bankruptcy Division of the Supreme Court, the master and registrar, the intermediate court, the industrial court and the children’s court are heard by the Supreme Court exercising its appellate jurisdiction; and • appeals against a decision of two or more judges of the Supreme Court are heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, if such appeals are possible (leave to appeal must first be obtained, as not all cases are appealable before the Judicial Committee). Mechanisms for review include: • applications for judicial review to the Supreme Court, where two judges will review the decision- making process of an administrative body; or • applications to the chief justice to review the deci- sion of the master and registrar. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Appeals before the Supreme Court in its appellate jurisdiction or to the Court of Civil Appeal are not conditional on leave being granted – that is, they are as of right, provided that the appeal concerns a final decision.
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