MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sameer Tegally, Sonia Xavier and Ashvan Luckraz, Venture Law
Venture Law Level 3, Tower 1 Nexteracom Towers Cybercity Ebene Mauritius Tel: +230 404 9900 Fax: +230 404 9901
Email: office@venturelawltd.com Web: www.venturelawltd.com
1. Legal System and Regulatory Framework 1.1 Legal System Type of Legal System
The Commercial Division of the Supreme Court The Commercial Division of the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine: • matters arising under the Insolvency Act 2009 and the Companies Act 2001; • disputes relating to banking, bills of exchange, off - shore business, patents and trademarks or passing off; • disputes between traders and related matters; and • in general, anything that is of a commercial nature. The Intermediate Court Following legislative amendments, the Intermediate Court has jurisdiction over all civil cases in which the claim or matter in dispute ranges from MUR250,000 The District Court has jurisdiction to hear civil cases where the claim or matter in dispute does not exceed MUR250,000. Business Structures For businesses operating in Mauritius, the most com - monly used legal structures are as follows. Companies Companies established under the Companies Act 2001 can be public or private, limited (by shares, guar - antees, or both) or unlimited. to MUR2 million. The District Court
Mauritius has a “hybrid” or “mixed” legal system, inherited from its former colonial masters, the French and the British. The Constitution of Mauritius is based on the Westminster model, while substantive law (civil rights, property law, contract law) is French-derived, and procedural law is English-based. Sources of Mauritian Law The primary sources of law in Mauritius emanate from: • the written Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country; • the legislature, ie, Parliament, which enacts laws in accordance with its power to make laws under the Constitution; • the executive, which administers the laws enacted by Parliament; • the judiciary, which interprets the laws; and • judicial precedent, legal customs, equity and doc - trine. The Supreme Court The Supreme Court is a superior court of record that has original jurisdiction to: • hear and determine civil and criminal matters; • interpret the Constitution; • act as a court of equity; and • exercise general powers of supervision over all the subordinate courts.
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