MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: André Robert and Mushtaq Namdarkhan, BLC Robert & Associates
against the defendant, although certain statutes provide for shorter prescription periods. The prescription period for actions in rem is 30 years. Under Section 4 of the Public Officers Protection Act, every civil or criminal action, suit, or pro- ceeding, by a person, other than the State, for any fact, act or omission against public officers or persons engaged in the performance of any public duty or persons assisting such persons must, under pain of nullity, be instituted within two years from the date of the fact, act or omis- sion which has given rise to the action, suit or other proceeding. Applications for judicial review of an execu- tive decision must be made promptly and in any event within three months of the decision being challenged. The real requirement is one of promptness and an application may be set aside even if made within the three-month limit. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant Any defendant with Mauritian nationality is sub- ject to the jurisdiction of the Mauritian courts, even in respect of obligations incurred outside Mauritius. In respect of a foreign defendant, the Supreme Court will allow initiation and service of pro- ceedings against it if one of the conditions in the Courts (Civil Procedure) Act are met, namely: • the whole subject matter of the action is immovable property situated within Mauritius; • an act, deed, will, contract, obligation or liability affecting immovable property situated within Mauritius, is sought to be construed, rectified, set aside, or enforced in the action;
• relief is sought against a person ordinarily resident within Mauritius; • the action is founded on a breach or alleged breach within Mauritius of a contract wherev- er made, which ought to be performed within Mauritius; • an injunction is sought as to anything to be done within Mauritius, or a nuisance within Mauritius is sought to be prevented or removed, whether damages are or are not sought; • any person outside of Mauritius is a neces- sary or proper party to an action properly brought against some other person duly served within Mauritius; or • any action, relief, dispute or third-party claim in which a corporation holding a global busi- ness licence, an authorised company, a col- lective investment scheme or a protected cell company is one of the parties. If an action concerns a contract containing a jurisdiction clause in favour of another jurisdic- tion, the Mauritian court may decline jurisdiction unless the choice of jurisdiction is against the public policy of Mauritius. If the action concerns a dispute which is cov- ered by the scope of an arbitration agreement, the Mauritian court will decline jurisdiction if the defendant raises their objection before filing a defence on the merits (in the case of a domestic arbitration). In the case of an international arbi- tration, the defendant must (again, before filing a defence on the merits) ask that the case be referred to a panel of three designated judges of the Supreme Court to decide whether the par- ties should be referred to arbitration or whether, on a prima facie, basis, there is a very strong probability that the arbitration agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being per- formed.
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