Mauritius is not a party to any international convention, treaty or arrangement in respect of the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

Not applicable. See Answer to 1 above.

Mauritian general law governs the enforcement of foreign judgments through a specific procedure called exequatur, the legal basis of which is Article 546 of the ‘Code de Procedure Civile’. Once a judgment is granted exequatur, it may be enforced in Mauritius in the same way as a Mauritian judgment. Exequatur can only be availed of if the foreign judgment is final and has not been appealed against.

Otherwise, there are specific statutory provisions regarding the enforcement of United Kingdom judgments that are contained in the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgment Act 1923 (“REJA”). This procedure is only available for money judgments rendered by superior courts in the United Kingdom. However, the Supreme Court of Mauritius has held in the case of Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd. v Pentasoft Technologies Limited & Anor [2012 SCJ 463] that a judgment creditor seeking to register and enforce a United Kingdom judgment can also avail himself of the procedure of exequatur under the ‘Code de Procedure Civile’.

The ‘Code de Procedure Civile’ does not set out the conditions that are to be fulfilled for an application for exequatur to be granted. The test which is applied by the court to determine whether a foreign judgment may be granted exequatur was set out in the case of D’Arifat v Lesueur [1949 MR 191]. Any final judgment or order obtained in a foreign court would be enforceable in Mauritius without re-examination of the merits of the case, provided that:

1. the foreign judgment is still valid and capable of execution in the country where it was delivered;
2. it is not contrary to any principle affecting public order in Mauritius;
3. the defendant was regularly summoned to attend the proceedings; and
4. the court which delivered the judgment had jurisdiction to determine the matter.

Exequatur is applicable to any type of relief. On the other hand, enforcement under the REJA is relevant only to money judgments delivered by superior courts in the United Kingdom.

Not applicable. See answer to Question 1 above.

Exequatur

To enforce a foreign judgment in Mauritius, a judgment creditor must file a motion supported by an affidavit before the Supreme Court of Mauritius, requesting an order making executory the judgment delivered in another jurisdiction. This affidavit must include a certified copy of the foreign judgment and evidence of its finality and non-appeal status. It shall also be accompanied by a legal opinion delivered on the laws of the foreign country confirming (i) that the judgment is still valid and capable of execution in that country (including any limitation period for execution under the laws of that country), (ii) that the laws of the foreign country have been complied with regarding the method of service of the court proceedings, and (iii) that the foreign court had jurisdiction to determine the dispute, together with the legal basis for such jurisdiction. The legal opinion is required because, under Mauritian law, foreign law is a matter of fact which must be proved through legal expertise.

The Supreme Court will then set a maximum two-month deadline for the respondent to contest the application. If no challenge is made, the judgment will be registered and declared executory.

If the respondent is a foreign entity, leave must be sought from the courts in Mauritius before the exequatur proceedings can be lodged and served on the respondent outside jurisdiction.

REJA

If a judgment creditor is seeking to enforce a money judgment delivered by a superior court in the United Kingdom, it must be done within 12 months of the date of the judgment. However, the Supreme Court has the discretion to allow a longer period and will generally do so. The application must be made ex parte or by summons to a judge and is supported by an affidavit enclosing a certified copy of the foreign judgment.

The Supreme Court will fix a time limit of two months within which the judgment debtor may apply to set aside the application for registration of the foreign judgment. In the absence of any such application, the judgment must be registered and will be declared executory in Mauritius.

An application to enforce a foreign judgment is made by way of affidavit. Where the judgment creditor is a foreign entity, the latter is required to grant a power of attorney to a natural person to represent it in the exequatur proceedings in Mauritius and to swear the affidavits on its behalf. This power of attorney must be deposited with a notary public in Mauritius who shall then register the power of attorney with the Supreme Court of Mauritius within 15 days of the deposit made to him. After this process has been followed, the natural person may then swear the affidavit on behalf of the judgment creditor. An affidavit sworn outside Mauritius may also have to be legalised (either through an apostille in Hague Convention states or through diplomatic channels in other cases).

Judgments that are not in the English or French language must be translated and certified.

If the judgment debtor leaves default, the exequatur proceedings may be completed within 6 months from the date of the application.

In the event that the judgment debtor elects to defend the exequatur proceedings, judgment may take up to 24 months, depending on postponements requested to file affidavits and the grounds of challenge.

Yes. The courts have the power to grant freezing orders to prevent judgment debtors from dissipating assets. Certain criteria will however need to be satisfied such as the judgment creditor having a good arguable case, the debtor possessing assets in the jurisdiction and that there a real risk that those assets may be dissipated.

There are no limitation periods that apply for enforcing a foreign judgment through exequatur. A judgment can be enforced as long as it remains valid and executable in the original jurisdiction.

An application for registration and enforcement of a United Kingdom money judgment under the REJA may be made within 12 months of the date of the judgment. However, our courts have the discretion to extend that time.

The key grounds of challenge are:

• The original court did not have jurisdiction to determine the matter subject of the foreign judgment;
• The foreign judgment has been appealed against;
• Enforcement of the foreign judgment would be contrary to public order;
• the judgment debtor was not regularly summoned to attend the proceedings before the foreign court; or
• the judgment was obtained by fraud.

It is not open to the exequatur judge to reconsider the merits of the judgment as was held in S.A. Epson France v Societe Intervenant Technologie Ltd [2012 SCJ 114] citing the French case of Munzer, Cour de Cassation, 07 January 1964. The role of the exequatur judge is limited to the verification of the following conditions:

1. The foreign court had jurisdiction to determine the matter subject of the foreign judgment;
2. The foreign judgment does not comply with Mauritian public policy, either substantive or procedural (regarding the rights of the defendant – whether he had been regularly summoned and obtained a fair trial); and
3. The judgment was not obtained by fraud.

Yes. The exequatur judge will usually take into consideration elements such as whether there has been a breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the court of a different country, whether the choice of jurisdiction was not fraudulent or whether the defendant had agreed to submit itself to the jurisdiction of the foreign court prior to the proceedings and submitted itself to it.

The Mauritian courts do not impose any specific requirement on the way the defendant was served with the proceedings. However, the foreign judgment needs to comply with Mauritian public policy. Therefore, the exequatur judge must be satisfied that the judgment debtor had been duly notified of the court proceedings in the foreign jurisdiction and that his rights as a defendant have been duly respected.

Default judgments can be enforced, provided they comply with all the other requirements set out in this guide.

Once the conditions for enforcement have been satisfied by the judgment creditor, the courts in Mauritius will proceed with the enforcement of the foreign judgment. The exequatur judge cannot exercise any discretion to refuse an enforcement because he cannot review the merits of the case.

Foreign judgments that are contrary to public policy cannot be enforced. Punitive damages, although not expressly ruled to be against public policy, are granted in very exceptional cases by our courts.

Enforcement procedures may be started if there is a pending appeal in the foreign jurisdiction. However, it is a ground upon which the judgment debtor may challenge the enforcement. The Mauritian courts will stay the exequatur proceedings pending the determination of the appeal in the foreign jurisdiction.

Yes. It is possible to appeal a decision recognising or enforcing a foreign judgment in Mauritius, within 21 days of the decision. The notice of appeal containing the grounds of appeal must be filed and served on the respondent(s) within that 21-day period. The effect of the appeal of the judgment will be a stay on the execution of the judgment.

Yes, Mauritian courts will enforce the interest portion of a foreign judgment but will not award additional interest beyond what was specified in the original judgment. The Supreme Court in Mauritius will confirm the original judgment’s contents without adding interest or addressing issues not previously adjudicated upon.

There is no such requirement for the purposes of the enforcement application. For practical enforcement, the debt is typically converted into Mauritian Rupees based on the exchange rate at the time of the original judgment. When registering a judgment under a relevant regime, the debt is recorded in the foreign currency, but enforcement will require converting the amount to Mauritian Rupees for payment.

The general rule is that the losing party bears the costs of the enforcement application. It is important to note however that the court retains a discretion to refuse to make an order as to costs in certain circumstances, for example if it is of the view that the applicant’s case has not been conducted in a diligent manner.

For an exequatur application, costs would include Counsel and Attorney’s costs as well as the costs for all court filings. However, the costs that are awarded by the court are subject to minimal amounts set out in the Legal Fees and Costs Rules and will unlikely cover the applicant’s actual legal expenses.

Mauritian laws do not cater for third party litigation funding. There is therefore no restriction on third party litigation funding. Third party funders cannot be made liable for costs because there is no legal provision thereon.

Mauritius has witnessed an increase in foreign direct investments over the last couple of years, which may lead to an increase in cross-border disputes in the future. The recent Supreme Court judgment of Hobler v Harker [2024 SCJ 159] held that it is not a requirement that a judgment debtor owns assets in the Mauritian jurisdiction for a foreign judgment to be recognised against him in Mauritius. Following the position of the French Cour de Cassation, our courts now consider that as long as a judgment creditor satisfies the court that it has an interest to seek the enforcement of a foreign judgment against a judgment debtor irrespective of whether the latter has assets in Mauritius, the enforcement will be granted if all conditions for exequatur are met. We can therefore expect an increase in enforcement applications in the future.

It will also be interesting to see whether Mauritius will sign the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 2019. Ratifying the convention would make it less cumbersome for judgments delivered in Mauritius to be enforced in third party countries and vice-versa.

Mauritius has not ratified the Hague Choice of Courts Convention 2005 and it is not expected that it will in the foreseeable future.

Mauritius has not yet ratified the Hague Judgments Convention 2019. But it will be a welcome addition to our enforcement legal framework.