Mauritius
- Overview
- The World of Business
- Legal System
- Offshore Legal and Tax Regimes
- Offshore Operation
- Tax Treatment of Offshore Operations
- Taxation of Foreign Employees of Offshore Operations
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Legal System
The legal system of Mauritius is based on English Common Law and French Civil Law in the form of the Napoleonic code. While the procedural law both in criminal and civil litigation is largely English, the substantive law is almost entirely based on the French Napoleonic Code.
Generally speaking common law, as opposed to civil or socialist law, is a type of legal system where legislation is continually evolving. Courts refine and create laws on a case-by-case basis. When resolving a legal dispute, in the ideal world, a common law court looks to precedents set by other courts. What this means is that when a court is resolving a dispute, it must look to see if a similar dispute was resolved in the past. If one has, then the present day court is obligated to following the same reasoning used in the prior case; this principle is called stare decisis. On the other hand, if the dispute is totally unique, the court may resolve the matter itself using general guidelines. This new decision then becomes the precedent to which all future cases are bound. Over the years, the precedents created by past decisions coalesce into a complicated set of rules that apply to a wide array of case; this collection of rules is known as “common law”. Of course, common law systems are much more complex in practice, nevertheless the principle of stare decisis as described above, is the foundation of all common law systems.
Civil law, also called Continental law or Romano-Germanic law, is the most prevalent legal system in the world. The main difference between civil and common law is that that common law draws abstract rules from specific cases, whereas civil law starts with abstract rules, which judges must then apply to the various cases before them. In other words, historically speaking, common law is based upon traditions and laws are codified following court rulings. On the other hand, in the case of civil law, laws are first codified and then applied. There are a number of civil codes besides the Napoleonic code.
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Latest news
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Quatrro BPO to ramp up China operations - Business Standard
Google News - Mauritius, 17-February-2008
[full story]
Quatrro BPO to ramp up China operations
Business Standard, India - 4 hours ago
Raman Roy’s company had also bought out the Mauritius-based fund eIndia’s stake in Chennai-based Scope eKnowledge, a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) ... -
‘Mauritius has always been a well-regulated jurisdiction’ - Hindu
Google News - Mauritius, 17-February-2008
[full story]
‘Mauritius has always been a well-regulated jurisdiction’
Hindu, India - 8 hours ago
Chennai: The India-Mauritius tax treaty has always been the cynosure of financial planners on the one side, and the policymakers on the other. ... -
‘Mauritius has always been a well-regulated jurisdiction’ - Hindu
Google News - Mauritius, 17-February-2008
[full story]
‘Mauritius has always been a well-regulated jurisdiction’
Hindu, India - 8 hours ago
Mauritius has always been a well-regulated jurisdiction, and not a single case of round tripping or money-laundering has ever been proven against us. ...