MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Roobesh Ramanjooloo, Pritesh Ramsaha and Ingrid Lecordier-Marie Joseph, Juristconsult Chambers
4. Arbitral Awards 4.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Both domestic and foreign awards may be denied enforcement where they are found to be contrary to public order. Foreign Awards For foreign arbitral awards, enforcement can also be resisted if the party against whom the award is invoked establishes that it was not properly informed of either the appointment of the arbitrator or the arbi - tration proceedings, or if it was otherwise deprived of a reasonable opportunity to present its case. In assessing enforcement, the court does not, on its own initiative, examine whether service of the original arbitral proceedings was properly effected. Domestic Awards With respect to domestic awards, the enforcing court does not revisit issues relating to the service of the award or the conduct of the original proceedings. However, a domestic award may be set aside where the adversarial principle has not been observed. The adversarial principle mandates that both parties must have an equal opportunity to present their case, sub - mit evidence and respond to the opposing side’s argu - ments, with the arbitrator adopting a passive stance. Security for Costs As a general rule of Mauritian procedure, security for costs may be sought where a foreign party that owns no immovable property in Mauritius initiates court pro - ceedings here. In the international arbitration context, a party may also apply for security for costs where the arbitration agreement or the applicable arbitral rules so provide. Before the Supreme Court, the position is governed by the International Arbitration Act Rules. The application must be supported by written evidence – ordinarily an affidavit or witness statement, together with support - ing documents. Under Rule 28 (2), the court will order security for costs where, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it is satisfied that such an order is war -
(b) whether the foreign judgment is subject to a pending appeal; and (c) whether the judgment debtor is entitled and intends to appeal against the foreign judgment. • Jurisdiction: (a) whether the court that rendered the foreign judgment had jurisdiction over the subject mat - ter of the dispute; and (b) enforcement may be refused where the judg - ment debtor was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction of the foreign court and did not voluntarily appear, submit or agree to submit to the jurisdiction of that court. • Invalid service and fair hearing: (a) whether the judgment debtor was effec - tively summoned before the foreign court and whether they were given a fair hearing. • The basis on which the judgment was obtained: (a) whether the judgment was procured through fraudulent means. • Public policy: (a) whether the judgment was in respect of a cause of action that for reasons of public policy or for some other similar reason could not have been entertained by the Supreme Court. UK Judgment Registration of a UK judgment must be refused in the following six situations: • the original court lacked jurisdiction; • the judgment debtor neither carried on business nor was ordinarily resident within that court’s juris - diction and did not submit to it; • the debtor was not duly served and did not appear (even if resident, carrying on business there, or having agreed to submit); • the judgment was obtained by fraud; • the debtor shows that an appeal is pending or intended; or • the judgment concerned a cause of action that Mauritian public policy (or a similar reason) would not entertain.
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