MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: André Robert and Mushtaq Namdarkhan, BLC Robert & Associates
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-action Conduct
before the district courts, a judge in chambers, the master’s court and the Bankruptcy Divi- sion of the Supreme Court. In a specific case, a foreign barrister may have a right of audience subject to obtaining permission from the chief justice. 2. Litigation Funding 2.1 Third-Party Litigation Funding Mauritian law is silent on third-party funding and there is no applicable restriction on such fund- ing. 2.2 Third-Party Funding: Lawsuits This is not applicable in Mauritius. 2.3 Third-Party Funding for Plaintiff and Defendant This is not applicable in Mauritius. 2.4 Minimum and Maximum Amounts of Third-Party Funding This is not applicable in Mauritius. 2.5 Types of Costs Considered Under Third-Party Funding This is not applicable in Mauritius. 2.6 Contingency Fees Contingency fees are permitted for both barris- ters and attorneys. In the case of attorneys, their code of ethics provides that it must be reason- able and the practice is for it to be 10% of the amount recovered. In the case of barristers, this cap of 10% is formally recorded in their code of ethics. 2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding This is not applicable in Mauritius.
As a matter of procedure, there is no obligatory or recommended pre-action protocol that needs to be followed, where non-compliance could have cost consequences. As a matter of substantive law, a plaintiff cannot sue a defendant for breach of contract unless, prior to such action, the plaintiff has requested the defendant to perform the contract. Excep- tions to this are where the contract has dis- pensed with such prior notice or where the con- tractual obligation had to be performed within a time limit which has lapsed. For certain applications, eg, judicial review, actions are not possible unless all other rem- edies have been exhausted (eg, appeals before an executive body or tribunal). Before certain cases are entered against a for- eign defendant, leave of the judge in chambers to enter the action and serve it on that party must be obtained. In suits against public officers in the execution of their public duty, persons engaged or employed in the performance of any public duty or per- sons acting in support of public officers/persons employed or engaged in the performance of any public duty, no civil action, suit or proceeding will be instituted unless one month’s previous writ- ten notice of the action, suit, proceeding and the subject matter of the complaint have been given to the defendant. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The general rule for personal actions is ten years from when the plaintiff has an actionable claim
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