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5th International Conference of Chief Justices of the WorldAddress byHon’ble Mr Justice Kheshoe Parsad MatadeenJudge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of MauritiusMy learned colleagues who have preceded me to the rostrum have made some extremelyinteresting and thought-provoking observations on the ‘enforceability of internationallaw’, the theme for this year’s Conference. I do not propose to repeat what they havesaid, much of which I do endorse. I will therefore be speaking essentially from theperspective of a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mauritius and on theextent to which international law is enforceable in Mauritius.My brief intervention will be divided into three parts. I will start by giving a brief overviewof the Mauritian legal system. Then I will briefly look at the extent to which, “traditionally”,international law has been enforceable in Mauritius. I will end by flagging for yourconsideration a few recent developments on the international scene which, in my humblesubmission, have contributed towards helping enforceable international law become moreof a ‘reality’ than it has ever been before - at least in Mauritius.Hon’ble Mr Justice K. P. Matadeen, Judgeof the Supreme Court of the Republic ofMauritius addressing the ConferenceThe Mauritian legal system is a hybrid one. It is partly French and partly British - and this for historical reasons, as Mauritiuswas colonized by the French and the British successively before the country obtained its independence in 1968. We havea very rich case law with Supreme Court judgments being reported as far back as 1861. Moreover the judgments of thePrivy Council in London, as well as those of the English and French Courts are binding in certain matters, whilst decisionsof other foreign Courts (especially the Indian Supreme Court and the Caribbean Courts) can be highly persuasive e.g. onconstitutional matters. With the advent of the Internet, more and more foreign judgments are being quoted in our Courtsnow and are often applied, in view of their inherent soundness and the similarity between our statutory provisions.I shall now turn to the enforceability of international law in Mauritius. With regard to private international law, which dealswith the acts of individuals, the Supreme Court of Mauritius has since long held that our Courts are to be guided by theFrench rules of private international law (subject to any exceptions that may arise through certain different statutory enactmentsand treaty obligations), since the laws of Mauritius regarding civil rights and obligations are basically and almost entirelyFrench. Our municipal laws and the Supreme Court judgments on private international law are broadly in line with principlesbeing applied in other countries. With regard to public international law which deals with acts of states, the sources are aslaid down in Art 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, namely, (a) international conventions (b) internationalcustom (c) general principles of law recognized by civilized nations, and (d) judicial decisions and teachings of the mosthighly qualified publicists of various nations.In that context, I have to say a word about treaties. Mauritius has espoused the dualist system as opposed to the monist onewhere treaties are automatically incorporated in the municipal law upon ratification. Under the dualist system which obtainsin Mauritius, in spite of “Executive” ratification, treaties will not be applied in our Courts and acted upon unless there hasbeen an implementing Act of Parliament, passed by the local legislature, giving force of law to those treaties. You may wishto know, however, that Mauritius is a small country with limited human resources and fast development. It has not alwaysbeen able to keep pace with its international obligations and it has ratified a number of treaties without having themincorporated in our municipal law. The Mauritian Supreme Court has declined to apply provisions of such treaties, wheninvoked by litigants in Court, and has held that, whilst such treaties are binding on Mauritius internationally, they do not formpart of our law and are not binding on our Courts unless implementing legislation to that effect has been passed.I shall now submit for your consideration some recent developments which may be indicative of a move towards enforceableinternational law.--54--