SPECIAL REPORT 17
MA UR I T I US
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 newhearing centre, to be built before the end of 2015, based on the standard of the Hong Kong hearing centre or the Singapore hearing centre”. Howdoes the LCIA-MIAC stand up against more traditional seats? “The combined effect of the legislative framework and theMIAC system (based on the LCIA) is probably amore robust system than a lot of other potential venues. The whole system is designed tominimise court intervention and so to drastically reduce potential delays. You can often avoid going to court inMauritius, where youwouldn’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 themajority of cases tend to arise out of themain 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 aremore likely to insist on domestic lawas the substantive governing law of the contract. They are alsomore 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 awhole: “Althoughwe are catching upwith the rest of the world, there is still amassive need for development and investment. Myworry 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.”
STRATEGIC ALLY POSITIONED IN THE INDIAN OCE AN BET WEEN AFRIC A AND INDIA , MAURITIUS IS RAPIDLY DE VELOPING INTO A NEW FINANCIAL HUB. IT HA S A MIXED LEGAL SYSTEM, WITH INFLUENCE FROM ENGLISH AND FRENCH L AW, MAKING IT FAMILIAR TO PARTIES FROM BOTH COMMON L AW AND CIVIL L AW JURISDICTIONS. OVER THE PA ST 15 YE ARS, MAURITIUS HA S ADOPTED A RANGE OF ME A SURES TO POSITION ITSELF A S AN AT TRACTIVE VENUE FOR RESOLVING INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES, ESPECIALLY THOSE EMANATING FROM THE AFRIC AN MAINL AND. This beganwith 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 UNCITRALModel Law, with refinements to support the arbitration process, including court proceedings heard by theMauritius 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 tomake a real push tomakeMauritius 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. Tomake the new Act as attractive as possible, theymade some key decisions including applying the law to international matters only and limiting court involvement in arbitrations by giving powers in relation to certainmatters to the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague.” Earlier this year, the LCIA-MIACwon the Global Arbitration Review2015 award for up-and-coming regional arbitral institution. Duncan viewed the award as well-deserved recognition for hardwork: “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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