Mauritius: Constitutional and Legal Framework

Extracted from: Rouikaya Kasenally 2009 "Chapter 8: Mauritius" IN Denis Kadima and Susan Booysen (eds) Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa 1989-2009: 20 Years of Multiparty Democracy, EISA, Johannesburg, 276.

The constitution is considered the supreme law and dictates through its various sections the manner in which the affairs of the state should be understood, respected and conducted. Running concurrent with the Mauritian constitution is a legal system which ensures that laws are robustly and fairly implemented. Together they act as the central feature of the excellent good governance track record demonstrated by the island in the last decade.

Mauritius is a sovereign democratic state and is a member of the United Nations, of the Commonwealth and of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Mauritius was under French rule until 1814 when it became British, but still kept its French laws and customs. Whilst the substantive laws, e.g. the Civil Code, the Criminal Code and the Commercial Code, remained French, the English judges presiding in the Mauritian courts preferred English procedure, which was familiar to them. Thus, historically, English law gradually grafted itself onto French law to supplement the former. More modern legislation in the fields of company, banking, finance, offshore, taxation, shipping and intellectual property are of English origin. Mauritius has been one of the Sub-Saharan African countries to set up a woman-dedicated ministry in the early 1980s. This paved the way for the creation of legislation aimed at protecting and empowering the woman citizen. In addition, Mauritius is signatory to a number of gender-related protocols, such as the SADC gender protocol and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw).

The written constitution of the Republic of Mauritius [1968] is based on the doctrine of separation of powers. The constitution clearly sets out the separation of powers among the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. Mauritius, like many ex-colonies, inherited its constitution, although over the years it was able to make a number of amendments.

Mauritius adopted the system of parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model. The head of state is the non-executive president, appointed by the National Assembly, while the head of government is the prime minister, who presides over the Council of Ministers. Parliament has powers to make laws within the framework of the constitution and functions according to standing orders, which are very close to the Westminster model. The constitution provides the mechanism through which the independence of the judiciary can be maintained. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court and other courts of lesser jurisdiction, namely, the Intermediate Court, the District Courts and the Industrial Court. Appeals from the lower courts are heard before the Supreme Court. Further safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms, the constitution provides for appeals from the Supreme Court to be made to the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom's Privy Council in London, which sits as Court of Final Appeal. It must be noted that as from 2008 the Privy Council conducted its hearings in Mauritius.

Reference

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS 1968, [www] http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/AssemblySite/menuitem.ee3d58b2c32c60451251701065c521ca/ [opens new window] (accessed 22 Feb 2010).