The Change of Name section mainly deals with 4 types of Applications: Change of Name, Rectification, Tardy declaration of Birth/Death and Division in Kind.

Change of Name

As provided for in Section 55 of Civil Status Act 1981, any person whose birth is registered or recorded under this Act may petition the Attorney-General for leave to make any change to his names.

A standard application form is provided by our Office to that effect. This form has to be filled by the Applicant or the responsible party (if the Applicant is a minor) and then filed at our Office and a payment of a processing fee effected. The Applicant has to provide good and sufficient grounds in support of the application.

The MLA Unit is a specialised unit within the Attorney-General’s Office (AGO), responsible for coordinating international cooperation in criminal and related matters. By virtue of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal and Related Matters Act 2003, the Honourable Attorney-General is designated as the Central Authority for the Republic of Mauritius, serving as the appropriate competent authority for handling MLA requests. The Honourable Attorney-General is empowered to approve or refuse, in whole or in part, MLA requests.

Ministère Public

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1. Mission

The services of the Ministère Public, an institution which finds its roots in French law, and commonly known in French law jurisdictions, and in Mauritius, as the “Parquet”, are dispensed by the Attorney- General through his Officers, as per the Ministère Public Act.

Its role is to act as an impartial guide to the Courts of Mauritius to ensure good administration of justice and that public order (l’ordre public) is upheld. It derives its powers from several statutes and Codes including the Ministère Public Act, the Code de Procédure Civil, the Code Civil Mauricien and the Civil Status Act, amongst others.

Save as in exceptional circumstances, applications are not made directly by or at the Ministère Public (Attorney-General’s Office) but to the appropriate Court and the matter is then referred to the Ministère Public for “Conclusions”, which are, in essence, an independent and impartial advice to the Courts on the legal requirements to be met in each specific type of application.

2. Areas of intervention

 The Ministère Public intervenes in cases specifically provided for by law or upon its assistance being requested by the Courts.

The powers and areas of intervention of the Ministère Public are vast but some of its most common areas of intervention are:

• matters concerning a change in status of the individual such as adoption (“adoption simple”, “adoption plénière”, “légitimation par adoption”), legal guardianship (“tutelle”) or curatorship (“curatelle”);
• matters concerning the rights of minors or people placed under protection regimes of guardianship or curatorship, such as sale of minor’s rights, sale of “majeur-en-tutelle’s” rights, division in kind involving a protected person, succession of protected persons;
• Court cases relating to a legal change in familial relationships (“filiation”) such as cases challenging an existing maternity or paternity, or seeking for the establishment of paternity or maternity;
• Court cases relating to loss of parental authority (“Déchéance de l’autorité parentale”);
• Court cases of nullity of marriage in special circumstances;
• Absence, Non- Presence and Disappearance (“absence” ou “disparition”).
• Tardy Declaration of Births or Deaths;
• Cases involving novel or complicated legal issues;
• Rectification of Civil Status Documents issued in Mauritius and its dependencies (Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate).

3. ADOPTION

 When a matter relating to an Adoption is referred to it, the Ministère Public officer requests the Commissioner for Probation Services to provide it with a Social Enquiry Report (SER) to ascertain that the application is in the best interests of the proposed adoptee (minor or adult) and that the proposed adoptive parent(s) are fit and proper. The Ministère Public has to satisfy itself that the procedural aspects of the application are legally in order, and that all the substantive conditions of the Code Civil Mauricien and other relevant legal provisions have been complied with. The overriding principle is the best interest of the child sought to be adopted or that there is a genuine motivation for the adoption of an adult. If there is a legal issue which can be cured, an observation is made and thereafter final conclusions are issued by the Officer to the Court. However, the Conclusions of the Ministère Public are not binding on the Court and the final decision rests on the Court.

4. LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP/ CURATORSHIP

Just like cases of adoption are referred to the Ministère Public for Conclusions, similarly, whenever an application is made to the Supreme Court for someone to be placed under the protection regimes of “curatelle”, or “tutelle”, for “ouverture de la tutelle”, appointment of guardian and sub-guardian to a minor or “majeur-en- tutelle”, the Supreme Court refers the matter to the Ministère Public for Conclusions. The file is processed in the same manner as for adoptions, whereby the designated Ministère Public officer ensures that the procedural and substantive aspects of the relevant laws have been respected and the proposed action is in the best interests of the “personne à protéger”. The Ministère Public may, at its discretion, request a more in-depth enquiry or police records of proposed guardians before issuing its Conclusions. In some cases, the Curator of Vacant Estates also has to give his stand.

5. SALE OF MINOR’S RIGHTS, SALE OF MAJEUR-EN-TUTELLE’S RIGHTS, DIVISION-IN-KIND, SUCCESSION OF A PROTECTED PERSON

According to Article 394 of the Code Civil Mauricien, parents of a minor child cannot dispose of a minor’s assets, borrow money on his behalf, renounce his rights or agree to a division in kind of his assets without the authorisation of the Judge in Chambers. Before giving its decision, the Judge or Master and Registrar (in the case of a Division in Kind, Sale by Licitation or sale by Levy) will refer the matter to the Ministère Public for an independent enquiry through a Social Enquiry Report of the probation services and the expert opinion of a Government Valuer, following which the Ministère Public will issue its impartial legal advice in the form of Conclusions.  The Applicant in such cases will usually be expected to furnish their own valuation report, deed of promise of sale and reasons for the proposed sale. The proceeds of the sale are usually ordered to be placed in a bank account belonging to the minor, not to be withdrawn without a judge’s order or if needed for the upkeep and maintenance of an adult protected person, a certain fixed amount is allowed for spending per month from the proceeds of the sale/ division-in-kind. In some cases, the Curator of Vacant Estates also has to give his stand.

6. COURT CASES OF “FILIATION”

 Court cases where one party is challenging, or seeking, paternity or maternity are increasingly common and usually involve the Ministère Public as a party. The role of the Ministère Public is to provide independent and impartial advice to the Court both on the substantive legal aspects and the procedural aspects, in particular as to locus standi (who can enter the case) and time-bar (within which delay). Such cases are usually hotly disputed or undefended and, in both cases, the Ministère Public will only file Conclusions after the evidence and submissions of all parties have been heard.

7. LOSS OF PARENTAL AUTHORITY (DÉCHÉANCE DE L'AUTORITÉ PARENTALE)

The Ministère Public can be called upon to apply for or to give Conclusions on the withdrawal of a parent’s parental authority rights in the following circumstances:

Whenever a father and/or mother is/are found guilty, either as author(s), co-author(s) or accomplice(s), of a crime or misdemeanour, committed upon their child (Article 375 Code Civil Mauricien)

Or whenever they are found guilty, as co-author(s) or accomplice(s), of a crime or misdemeanour committed by their child (Article 375 Code Civil Mauricien)

Aside from any criminal conviction, whenever a parent is alleged to have manifestly endangered the child's security, health and morality, either through ill-treatment, pernicious examples of habitual intoxication, notorious misconduct or delinquency, or through lack of care or lack of direction. (Article 376 Code Civil Mauricien).

8. NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

The Ministère Public can intervene in the following specific circumstances:

• Whenever a Minor has contracted marriage (Article 144 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever a Minor aged 16 or above has contracted marriage without the express consent of his/her parents or that of the one exercising exclusive parental authority (under the repealed Articles 145-146 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever there was no consent (Article 149 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever there is a second marriage without the first one having been dissolved amounting to a case of bigamy (Article 150 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever there is a marriage within the prohibited degrees of relationship (Articles 150-153 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever the procedures have not been respected at the marriage ceremony (Article 189 Code Civil Mauricien)
• Whenever the celebration of a marriage has been procured by criminal means and either or both of the spouses have passed away without this fraud having been discovered, the Ministère Public can intervene in order for the marriage to be declared valid (Article 195 Code Civil Mauricien)

In relation to (g) above, whenever the Public Officer has passed away at the time the fraud is discovered, the Ministère Public may enter a civil action against his heirs, in presence of the interested parties and on their denunciation (Article 196 Code Civil Mauricien).

      9.Absence, Non-Presence and Disappearance

The Ministère Public intervenes in order to protect the interests of those who are not physically present to look after their own interests or whenever an application is made in Court by the latter’s relatives.

 Absence: a person is said to be absent whenever he/she has stopped appearing at his/her place of residence or home, and no one has heard from him/her, therefore making his/her existence uncertain. Death of the person is in this case possible, but not certain.

Non-presence: this occurs whenever a person is not at his/her domicile nor at his residence, but there are valid reasons to believe that he/she is alive and well

Disappearance (Disparition): this is an aggravation of the absence, and supposes not only the uncertainty of a person/s existence, but also and more importantly, the probability of his/her death, which remains uncertain.

In cases of disappearance at sea where the relatives would not have the police documents to sustain the claim that the person has passed away, when the body has not been recovered, the action is initiated by the Ministère Public, at the request of the heirs.

10. TARDY DECLARATION OF BIRTHS

Section 12(3) of the Civil Status Act provides that:

“(3) Where the birth to be registered is that of a person more than 3 months old—

      (a)            no order under subsection (2) (a) may be made by the Registrar of Civil Status;

      (b)            no order shall be made by the District Magistrate, except—

             (i) on the conclusions of the Ministère Public; and

            (ii) save where the declaration is made under section 14 (3), on payment of such fee not exceeding 500 rupees as may be determined by the Magistrate.”

In cases of registration of births of a person more than 3 months old, after an application is made to the appropriate District Court, the matter is referred by the District Magistrate to the Ministère public for its Conclusions. The designated officer will send the matter for enquiry to the police, confirm from the Registrar of Civil Status that the said birth has not already been registered, obtain a true certified copy of the Notification of Birth from the hospital or clinic, and then proceed to put up Conclusions, which are then forwarded to the District Magistrate for the Order to be made.

11. TARDY DECLARATION OF DEATHS

Section 47 of the Civil Status Act provides that:

“47.   Registration after disposal of body

(1)  Where at the time of the disposal of the body of a dead person, his death has not been registered at an office, no officer shall register the death except upon an order of a Magistrate authorising the registration of death.

(2)  No order under subsection (1) shall be made except upon the favourable conclusions of the Ministère Public.

(3)  Where the death of a dead person is registered under subsection (1), the order authorising the registration shall be annotated against the entry.”

In cases of registration of death of a person whose body has already been disposed of without the death having been registered at the civil status office, after an application is made to the appropriate District Court, the matter is referred by the District Magistrate to the Ministère public for its Conclusions. The designated officer will send the matter for enquiry to the police, confirm from the Registrar of Civil Status that the said death has not already been registered, and then proceed to put up Conclusions, which are then forwarded to the District Magistrate for the Order to be made. Statements are usually required from the relatives, the doctor who put up the medical certificate of cause of death and from the funeral servicesor officials.   

12. CASES INVOLVING NOVEL OR COMPLICATED LEGAL ISSUES

 Whenever any complicated or novel issue of law or procedure is in consideration by any Court of law, the Magistrate or Judge may request the assistance of the Ministère Public, at any stage of the proceedings.

The Office of the Curator of Vacant Estates (“the Curator”) is created under Section 3 of the Curatelle Act 1973 (“the Act”). The Curator can only act on the authority of a Vesting Order issued by the Judge in Chambers after all procedures prescribed by the Act have been completed, that is on production of an affidavit to the effect that diligent enquiries have been made by department with a view to ascertain that an estate is vacant.

The law Revision Unit has been set up by the Revision of Laws Act.

Its main functions are – 

• to prepare revised editions and Supplements;
• do all other things that are incidental or conducive to the proper performance of its functions;
• to assist the officers of the Drafting Unit in drafting Bills, Regulations, Proclamations, etc;
• to format Bills, , Proclamations, etc;
• to assist the law officers in looking for materials for Reply/ drafting Reply to Parliamentary Questions;
• to proofread Regulations, Proclamations etc. and give strike off for the purpose of publication in the Gazette;
• to update the law books of the Law Revision Unit (which constitute the Master copy and basis upon which Court cases are handled and advice tendered to the Government);
• to update laws on the Intranet; and
• to assist in consolidating, updating and revising the Acts of Parliament (Revised Laws of Mauritius) and the Regulations (Revised Subsidiary Legislation of Mauritius).