MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: André Robert and Mushtaq Namdarkhan, BLC Robert & Associates
• that the court does not have jurisdiction, eg, because of the existence of an arbitration agreement of valid choice of court clause; • there is a more appropriate forum (forum conveniens) to try the case, eg, having regard to factors such as the location of parties and witnesses, the law which has to be applied to the obligations in issue, and whether a foreign court has already accepted jurisdiction to hear the case; • that the case is closely connected with pend- ing litigation before another competent juris- diction outside Mauritius (litis pendens); • that the subject matter of the case is res judicata, ie, raising the same cause of action between the same parties in a previously decided case; • a motion to strike out certain paragraphs of pleadings on the grounds that they are unnecessary, made vexatiously or made with unnecessary prolixity; • a motion to strike out a pleading on the ground that it does not disclose a reasonable cause of action or defence; • a motion to dismiss a case on the ground that it constitutes an abuse of process of the court; and • a motion by one party to the case to be put out of cause on the ground that it is not a necessary and proper party to the case. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit If a non-party wishes to intervene in proceed- ings, they can apply to a judge and show cause that they have an interest in or are a necessary party to the case. A defendant to a case, before filing a defence to the plaintiff’s claim, may file a third-party pro- cedure against a non-party requesting that the latter takes up its defence and indemnifies it. The
third-party procedure can itself be a contested procedure. On application by one of the parties to an exist- ing case, the court has discretion to order that the name of a party that should not have been joined in action, be struck out, and for a party that should have been added to be joined as a party and served with the proceedings. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs If the plaintiff is a foreign party, the case does not involve a commercial matter and the plaintiff does not own immovable property in Mauritius, the court will order the plaintiff to furnish security for costs as a matter of course. The defendant may support the amount claimed as security by way of evidence and the amount can be con- tested by the plaintiff – ultimately, the amount of security will be at the discretion of the trial judge who will balance the need to provide security against the objective of not stifling a plaintiff to pursue its claim. In other cases, the court also retains discretion to order security for costs (whether the plaintiff is Mauritian or foreign, and whether the case involves a commercial matter), eg, if the plaintiff is shown to be impecunious. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions A judge dealing with the costs of interim applica- tions/motions will usually order the costs to be the costs in the main proceedings. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe The usual timeframe to deal with a motion may vary within a few days and approximately 12 months, depending on whether the motion is contested, requires evidence to be exchanged
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