Mauritius - Saferworld

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MAURITIUS 9 • All these reports must go to the district or divisional commander and he must approve the application. From there it is then sent to the Commissioner of Police. The Commissioner personally has the final say in approving or rejecting an application for a firearm licence. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Mauritius Police Force is stationed at the Police Head Office in Port Louis. The department is responsible for all investigations pertaining to firearms, including cases involving the negligent loss or use of firearms. Investigators are divided into four groups (A, B, C and D); each group is responsible for certain sections of the island. Typically, fewer than ten firearm-related cases are handled by the groups per year. There are close working relationships with all the other law enforcement sections in the police and customs on information exchange and investigations. Where redundant or seized firearms are collected by the police, they are registered and then destroyed by being cut into pieces and dumped in the ocean. The CID believe that the legislation does properly govern and control the legal possession of firearms and serves as a deterrent to any illegal possession or misuse of firearms on the island. Amendments have been incorporated into the Act since 1940, and currently more are being implemented and new amendments are in the drafting process. In some instances practice does not reflect the legislative position, for example, with regard to competency testing, which exists in practice but is not called for in the existing legislation. The Mauritius Police Force has, nonetheless, embarked on a review process of the current Firearms Act. The new South African legislation has been used as a model to work from with input from the criminal record office and the process is overseen by the Staff Officer of the National Police Commissioner. The police are proposing the following changes to the Firearms Act: • Sole powers are conferred to the National Commissioner to approve and reject firearm licences, which, de facto, is already the case. • Setting a time limit on the period in which to buy a firearm after approval to acquire a firearm is required. Increased licence fees. In addition to these legislative changes, the police have identified the lack of specialised training of their detectives in the identification and handling of firearms and explosives as a gap.
10 THE LAW OF THE GUN: AN AUDIT OF FIREARMS CONTROL LEGISLATION General information Mauritius International agreements SADC Firearms Protocol Signed Ratified UN Firearms Protocol UN Programme of Action Bamako Declaration Primary legislation Firearms Act of 1940 Last amendment / revisions Regulations Unknown Yes Party to Party to Year of implementation 1940 Other legislation containing Explosives Act firearms controls Prevention of Corruption Act 2002 Central Firearms Registry Yes, electronic. Managed by the Crime Record Office of the Mauritius Police Force. Access to data only at Crime Record Office. Number of registered 6,729 civilian firearms Review Currently under way
Page 1 and 2: REPORT Small arms and security in S
Page 4 and 5: Contents Foreword 5 Overview of fir
Page 6 and 7: Foreword THIS COUNTRY STUDY forms o
Page 8 and 9: MAURITIUS 7 facilitate cross-refere
Page 12 and 13: Definitions in Mauritius’ firearm
Page 14 and 15: Breakdown of Mauritius’ firearms
Page 16 and 17: MAURITIUS 15 Controls on civilian p
Page 18 and 19: MAURITIUS 17 Controls on civilian p
Page 20 and 21: MAURITIUS 19 Record keeping and tra
Page 22 and 23: MAURITIUS 21 Import, export and tra
Page 24 and 25: MAURITIUS 23 Import, export and tra
Page 26 and 27: MAURITIUS 25 Brokering Offences / p
Page 28 and 29: MAURITIUS 27 Manufacture Marking An
Page 30 and 31: MAURITIUS 29 Manufacture Offences /
Page 32 and 33: MAURITIUS 31 Trade Licensing Analyt
Page 34 and 35: MAURITIUS 33 Trade Pawning / pledgi
Page 36 and 37: MAURITIUS 35 Seizure, disposal and
Page 38 and 39: MAURITIUS 37 Arms embargoes Overvie
Page 40 and 41: MAURITIUS 39 State-owned firearms I

Mauritius - Saferworld

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