Mauritius, notwithstanding being a minuscule island in the Indian Ocean next to the nurturing landmass of Africa, has a complex jurisprudence. The simplest term used to depict its general set of laws is hybrid; yet this word does not characterise entirely the convolution of the idea of law. Nonetheless, Mauritius is one of the few countries with dual legal systems.
The inception of the theory of Law of Mauritius started with several attempts to colonise Mauritius, where the only two parties successful in inscribing their set of laws are the French and the British.
The timeline will illustrate further the evolvement of the legal structure of the country.
- 1507- Portuguese Period
- 1630- Dutch period
- 1715- French settlement
- 1810- British Captivating Mauritius
- 1968- Independence of Mauritius
- 1992- Mauritius becoming a republic
Mauritius, an independent country, sculpted its laws by inheritance. The intricacies of these laws arose when the transition of the governorship of the country was passed one from successors to another.
In 1715 the Frenchmen, while subjugating the island, implemented their law of origin, that is,the civil law, derived from the Code de Napoleon, the French penal code and the code decommerce.
“In 1810, when the French relinquished to the British, the latter had different types of law, the common law, however, because of the Act of Capitulation, under Article 8, the dwellers of Isle de France were given the right to keep their religion, norms and laws. Through loopholes in the laws, the British were able to infiltrate their set of laws into the country. This was the initial perpetuation of a complex legal system.”
After one and a half-century of British governance withinside the island, Mauritius was given its independence from the erstwhile ruler; yet kept all the administrative substructure of its precedent thereof enhancing further the dual legal system which rhetoricians designate as a hybrid. This led to the introduction of a new constitution inspired by the Westminster system which allowed intramural supremacy. Mauritius became an independent state and joined the Commonwealth on 12 March 1968. On 12 March 1992, following an amendment to the Constitution, Mauritius became a Republic, while remaining within the Commonwealth.
Imminently, the substantive law of Mauritius is thus inherited by the past eminent colonisers of the Island. Consequently, over time, the laws were amended and adapted to a local context independently from its source. Despite the latter, the French laws remain as a persuasive authority for the Mauritian Judiciary.
Contrary to our substantive law which is generally based on French laws; post-independence laws, procedural legal guidelines are inspired by the Anglo-Saxon laws, that is, common laws. Subsequently, new legislations were conceived through acts of parliaments which reflect and regulate different sectors of the country. Business laws such as the company laws, banking and financial services law are modelled after its counterpart from New Zealand.