State Sovereignty In Civil And Commerical Litigation

In the landmark judgment of First Global Funds PCC & Anor vs The Financial Services Commission of Mauritius and the Government of The Republic of Indonesia & Anor 2016 SCJ 14 (the "Judgment"), the Supreme Court of Mauritius has determined the capacity to sue a foreign State in the Republic of Mauritius and to what extent national sovereignty applies in our country. The Judgment relates only to civil and commercial cases.

The Supreme Court dealt with those fundamental points, namely whether a foreign state is immune from the jurisdiction of Mauritius on the basis of the doctrine of state immunity; whether a foreign state is considered to have submitted itself to the jurisdiction of Mauritius by raising the defense of state immunity; and whether the Courts of Mauritius are the appropriate forum when there are existing related proceedings in another jurisdiction.