Role of Human Rights Provisions in Upholding Democracy in Mauritius

Human rights

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Law can be defined as the system of rules, policies, and regulations which are aimed to
regulate the working of citizens in the society. These play an essential role in maintaining
security, fairness, and equality in society by providing several rights to the citizens and imposing
duties on them so that there is law and order are maintained. Human rights play a crucial role in
protecting the citizens as they are granted to them by being humans and they are entitled to it
since the time they have taken birth (Cyprus and et. al., 2020). This essay shall deal with the
provisions of human rights and how it plays an important role to uphold the democracy of the
country. It will also cover the extent to which this statement has application in the Mauritian
legal system.
MAIN BODY
The legal system of Mauritius is very unique as it draws the legal principles from
common as well as civil law. The legal procedure of it is drawn from the English legal system
and the substantive legislation has mainly resulted from the civil code which is based on the
French Napoleon code of the year 1804. The sources of the Mauritian law are the hybrid legal
system wherein the basic substantive content of the laws in Mauritius is derived from French
codes, penal codes, civil codes, and the code of commerce while the procedure and evidence law
are taken from the English legal system. There are different hierarchies of the legislative norms
in Mauritius which includes the Constitution. It is the supreme law of the land and any law which
is inconsistent with it shall be declared as null and void. Then is the primary legislation which is
made by the Parliament as per Section 45(1) of the Constitution. Then is subsidiary or secondary
legislation which are the regulations and rules which are enacted by the local councils, public
authorities, ministers who have the law-delated law-making power. The law in Mauritius is also
derived from the common law system which is known as judicial precedents, these are the judge-
made law and is a system wherein the decision of superior court's decision is binding for the
subordinate court and also on the court who has given the decision (El Fegiery, 2019).
Mauritius has a multiparty democracy which is governed by the Prime minister, National
assembly as well as Council of ministers. As Mauritius is a member of the United Nations and
African Union so it has ratified many of the UN human rights conventions and has also made