SPECIAL REPORT 17
MAURITIUS
at least regarded as an upcoming centre. Hopefully sooner or later we will be regarded as fully established. We are taking steps towards this goal all the time, such as our new hearing centre, to be built before the end of 2015, based on the standard of the Hong Kong hearing centre or the Singapore hearing centre”. How does the LCIA-MIAC stand up against more traditional seats? “The combined effect of the legislative framework and the MIAC system (based on the LCIA) is probably a more robust system than a lot of other potential venues. The whole system is designed to minimise court intervention and so to drastically reduce potential delays. You can often avoid going to court in Mauritius, where you wouldn’t be able to in other jurisdictions.” A recent snapshot of cases where the parties have agreed to refer disputes to the Centre suggests that the majority of cases tend to arise out of the main areas of activity in Africa: “Contracts relating to infrastructure development; power generation and supply; and oil and gas at both ends of the process – so exploration and extraction, and supply and purchasing.” Trends are also emerging in relation to clauses in contracts: “African parties, especially governments and state owned corporations, seem to be trying to Africanise, as far as possible, the dispute resolution process. So they are more likely to insist on domestic law as the substantive governing law of the contract. They are also more likely to try to insist on arbitrations or other dispute resolution processes taking place in the jurisdiction that the project relates to.” Looking towards the future, Duncan can still see challenges ahead for the continent as a whole: “Although we are catching up with the rest of the world, there is still a massive need for development and investment. My worry is that continued fear of disputes and fear of things not being sorted out efficiently and fairly is preventing foreign parties from investing. Dispute resolution has got to keep up so that people are not put off.”
STRATEGICALLY POSITIONED IN THE INDIAN OCEAN BETWEEN AFRICA AND INDIA, MAURITIUS IS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING INTO A NEW FINANCIAL HUB. IT HAS A MIXED LEGAL SYSTEM, WITH INFLUENCE FROM ENGLISH AND FRENCH LAW, MAKING IT FAMILIAR TO PARTIES FROM BOTH COMMON LAW AND CIVIL LAW JURISDICTIONS. OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS, MAURITIUS HAS ADOPTED A RANGE OF MEASURES TO POSITION ITSELF AS AN ATTRACTIVE VENUE FOR RESOLVING INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES, ESPECIALLY THOSE EMANATING FROM THE AFRICAN MAINLAND. This began with the adoption of the New York Convention in 2001, followed by ratification of the International Arbitration Act (the IAA 2008) in 2008. The Act is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, with refinements to support the arbitration process, including court proceedings heard by the Mauritius Supreme Court. Duncan Bagshaw, Registrar of the London Centre of International Arbitration – Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (LCIA-MIAC) explained the thinking behind the state of the art Act: “The decision to make a real push to make Mauritius an attractive venue was taken in around 2006. Mauritius already had an arbitration law which followed the old French law on arbitration but without any of the recent modifications. A complete legislative overhaul was required. To make the new Act as attractive as possible, they made some key decisions including applying the law to international matters only and limiting court involvement in arbitrations by giving powers in relation to certain matters to the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague.” Earlier this year, the LCIA-MIAC won the Global Arbitration Review 2015 award for up-and-coming regional arbitral institution. Duncan viewed the award as well-deserved recognition for hard work: “The Centre is breaking down negative perceptions overseas by building capacity and expertise in the region. I am really pleased that this work has been recognised because it shows that an African country can be
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