Mauritius - Saferworld

More documents

Recommendations

Info

MAURITIUS 7 facilitate cross-referencing between the national legislation and the international and regional commitments as well as cross referencing between the various pieces of legislation in the SADC region. The tables contain the articles specifically relevant to the analytical category and the requirements of the international and regional agreements, however, both in terms of accessibility and due to constraints of space certain articles and/or subsections have been omitted. We have tried, where possible, to limit this to articles containing procedural guidelines. Also, where articles crossreference other articles within the act, these cross-referenced articles have often not been immediately reproduced, again because of constraints of space. In most cases, however, these cross-referenced articles appear under different sections of the table. This country study should be used in conjunction with the narrative section of the study which contains a comprehensive overview of the aims and objectives of the study as well as the methodology used. The narrative section includes a table containing the key international and regional agreements broken down against the analytical categories outlined above. The narrative report and the 12 country studies are available online at Saferworld’s website: www.saferworld.org.uk, while hard copies are available on request.
Mauritius Overview of firearms situation THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED FIREARMS IN MAURITIUS is relatively low compared with other countries in the region. There are only 6,279 registered firearms in Mauritius which have been licensed to 4,243 persons. Mauritius does not have a military service but a paramilitary force. Both the police and paramilitary forces’ firearms are registered with the police. Historically Mauritius has not had an influx of firearms, legally or illegally. It is an island and has only two ports of entry, which are well controlled. The Mauritius Police Force has not experienced increased levels of violent crime involving firearms, nor has there been an increase in smuggling activities concerning firearms on the island. The police feel that transnational criminal organisations may in the future use the stability on the island to conduct their activities by moving firearms from one conflict area to the other without these firearms entering Mauritius. The Central Firearm Registry falls under the control of the Crime Record Office. Crucially, Mauritius has an electronic database. The database originates from India, appears to be well maintained and up to date and is one of only four electronic databases operating in the SADC region. The system is very basic but as a consequence it is simple to operate and maintain. Every transaction involving a firearm is recorded on the database. These include the following applications: finger printing, issuing of permits or licences, any inquiries, personal information and information on firearms (both those destroyed and those still in state or civilian possession). Overview of legislation The bulk of firearms controls In Mauritius are currently contained in the ‘Firearms Act’, which dates back to 1940, making it one of the oldest firearm control acts in the SADC region. This Act stipulates that the following process must be followed when obtaining a firearm for civilian use: • Firearm application to the Superintendent of Police in the district in which the applicant resides. The form is called the Application for the Grant of a Firearm Licence and is contained in Article 4(1) of the Firearms Act. • A background check is done on the person, firstly by the district police in the area in which the applicant resides, and secondly by the Crime Record Office. • The applicant must then demonstrate, or undergo training to show, that he / she is competent to handle the type of firearm he / she is applying for. The police armoury does this test and training. • Every stage of the licence process record is kept. The Crime Record Office must indicate that they received an application and what the results of the fingerprints are. The armoury must indicate by a report if the applicant can handle a firearm as applied for and the ‘enquiring inspector’ must complete a lengthy report on the character and background check on the applicant.
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 10 and 11: MAURITIUS 9 • All these reports m
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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?