MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Roobesh Ramanjooloo, Pritesh Ramsaha and Ingrid Lecordier-Marie Joseph, Juristconsult Chambers
Consequences and procedure Where the court annuls an award, it proceeds to rule on the merits within the limits of the arbitrator’s mis - sion, unless all parties agree otherwise. Both appeal and annulment lie to the Supreme Court and are admissible from the moment the award is pronounced but lapse if not exercised within one month of service of the award bearing the exequatur – and the run - ning of that time limit, as well as any recourse brought within it, suspends enforcement of the award. A decision of the Judge in Chambers granting exe - quatur may itself be appealed within one month of its service, in which case the Supreme Court will hear the grounds the parties could have raised against the award. Finally, the dismissal of an appeal or annul - ment action confers exequatur on the award, or on those parts of it left untouched by the Supreme Section 39 of the International Arbitration Act 2008 provides that the only recourse against an award made in a Mauritius-seated international arbitra - tion is an application to the Supreme Court to set it aside, and the Court may do so only on a closed list of grounds. The following grounds must be proved by the party making the application: • a party to the arbitration agreement lacked capac - ity, or the agreement was invalid under its govern - ing law; • the applicant was not given proper notice of the arbitrator’s appointment or of the proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case; • the award deals with a dispute beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration; or Court’s review. Foreign Awards • the composition of the tribunal, or the arbitral pro - cedure, departed from the parties’ agreement or, failing such agreement, from the Act.
The Court may find the following grounds through its own assessment: • the subject matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under Mauritian law; • the award conflicts with the public policy of Mauri - tius; • the making of the award was induced or affected by fraud or corruption; or • a breach of the rules of natural justice substantially prejudiced a party’s rights. Section 39 also confines and conditions that power. Where the objectionable parts of an award can be separated from the rest, only those parts are set aside. An application must be brought within three months of the applicant’s receipt of the award. The Court may stay setting-aside proceedings to allow the tribunal to resume and cure the defect, and may order the award sum to be paid into court or otherwise secured pend - ing the outcome. To resist recognition and enforce - ment, the respondent must apply to set aside the provisional order within 14 days of receiving it. A decision of the Supreme Court rendered under the International Arbitration Act carries a further right of recourse: any party may appeal, as of right, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
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