The Office of the Curator of Vacant Estates: An Overview
The Office of the Curator of Vacant Estates was established under Section 3 of the Curatelle Act 1973. The current Curator is Mr. Ravindranathsingh Lutchumun, appointed on July 24, 2000, and the Assistant Curator is Mrs. Deorani Lutchmanen, appointed on April 25, 2022.
The Office is supported by Registry staff who handle administrative tasks related to vesting order applications and supervision and control of the properties of minors and ‘majeure en tutelle’.
What is a Vacant Estate?
Under the Curatelle Act, a Vacant Estate includes:
- Vacant succession - Section 9 of the Curatelle Act 1973
- Absentee property - Section 11 of the Curatelle Act 1973
- Unclaimed property - Section 14 of the Curatelle Act 1973
The procedure for the application of a vesting order is laid down in Sections 12 and 13 of the Curatelle Act 1973.
The application is made through an Attorney at Law.
The expenses to be incurred are fixed by the Curator and same is payable by the Applicant.
Key Functions and Powers
- Vesting Orders: Once a vesting order is issued by the Judge in Chambers, the Curator immediately takes possession of the vacant estate.
- Property Under 100,000 Rupees: With the Attorney-General's approval, the Curator can take possession of property not exceeding 100,000 rupees without a Vesting Order.
- Creditor Actions: Creditors with an executory title can apply for an order to vest the succession of a deceased person’s debts with the Curator under Section 37 of the Curatelle Act 1973.
- Civil Proceedings: Parties in civil proceedings can apply for an order to vest the succession of a party who dies during the proceeding with the Curator under Section 37A of the Curatelle Act 1973.
- Other Enactments: The Curator can be vested with properties under other laws, such as the Companies Act 2001 and the Insurance Act 2004.
Properties are managed and disposed of according to Part V of the Act.
The Curator also represents prisoners who cannot protect their properties.
Legal and Financial Aspects
- Costs: Costs are not awarded against the Curator or the Government in legal proceedings but may be awarded against the vacant estate.
- Tort Liability: The Curator is not liable for torts committed before the date of the Vesting Order.
- Duration of Vesting Order: A Vesting Order remains in effect until a divesting order is issued or the Curator hands over the properties.
- Prescription: If an estate is not handed over or divested, it becomes Government property after 20 years from the Vesting Order date, unless the prescription is interrupted as per the provisions of the Civil Code of Mauritius.
- Government Privilege and Commission: The Government has a privilege on the property, ranking after judicial costs since an inscription is taken forthwith on the estate following the issue of the vesting order.
A commission of 3% is taken on the value of property other than money, and 5% on any money accruing to the estate to erase the inscription as provided for under Section 31 of the Act. Exemptions may apply under Section 31(4) of the Act.
The Curatelle Fund
- The Curatelle Fund is established under Section 19 of the Act, where money vested in the Curator is paid to the Accountant-General.
- The Curator administers the Fund, and the Financial Statements are prepared by an Accountant in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
- The books and records are open to audit by the National Audit Office, and the Auditor’s Report is tabled before the National Assembly by the Attorney-General.
- It is significant to note that the Curatelle Fund is a restricted fund which cannot be used for investment purposes.
Supervision of “La gestion tutélaire” under the Civil Code of Mauritius.
The Curator supervises and controls the administration of properties of minors and “majeur en tutelle” (persons with physical or mental impairments) under the Civil Code of Mauritius. This involves working with banks, the Ministry of Social Integration, and other authorities.
Pursuant to 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 is provided by our office to that effect. 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.
Please click on the link below to download the application form for Change of Name.
- The Applicant must leave a completed application form on the 1st Floor of the Attorney General’s Office, Change of Name Section with payment of a processing fee;
- The Applicant will thereafter receive a letter from our Office informing the Applicant that he/she has to give notice of his/her application in the Gazette and 2 daily newspapers;
- The application will be assigned to a designated law officer who will enquire into its merits. At this stage, the application may be forwarded to the police, requesting them to conduct an enquiry in connection with the reasons put forward by the Applicant.
- Yes. Any interested person may oppose the application by filing an objection in writing. The objection must specify the grounds of objection and must reach our Office within a delay of 28 days from the last publication of the notice given by the Applicant in the Gazette and the newspapers.
- It will be for the Attorney-General to consider whether the grounds of objection are valid or not.
- If no objection to the application is received within the statutory delay of 28 days or where the Attorney-General has rejected the grounds of objection received and is satisfied that there are good and sufficient grounds in support of the application, the Attorney-General may authorise the change. If that is the case, the Applicant is issued with a Change of Name certificate under the signature of the Attorney-General, who also causes a notice of the authorised Change of Name to be published in the Gazette.
- The person issued with a Change of Name certificate needs to bring it to the Registrar of Civil Status Office and cause the change to be made.
The Law Firm Unit is a licensing department of the Attorney-General’s Office which processes applications for registration/renewal and cancellation of Law Firms, Local Office of Foreign Law Firms, Joint Law Ventures and Foreign Lawyers. By virtue of the Law Practitioners Act 1984 (LPA) and Law Practitioners (Registration of Law Firms, Foreign Law Firms, Joint Law Ventures and Foreign Lawyers) Regulations 2008 (Regulations), the Honourable Attorney-General may approve and renew registration in respect of Law Firms, Local Office of Foreign Law Firms, Joint Law Ventures and Foreign Lawyers. The Honourable Attorney-General is also empowered for the cancellation and suspension of Local Office of Foreign Law Firms, Joint Law Ventures and Foreign Lawyers.
Requests for change of name of Law Firms, Local Office of Foreign Law Firms and Joint Law Ventures as well as requests for transfer of shares of Law Firms, Local Office of Foreign Law Firms, Joint Law Ventures and requests of de-registration, are considered by the unit.
The application forms can be downloaded from the link below.
- Application for Registration / Renewal of Registration of a Law Firm under section 10A of the Law Practitioners Act
- Application for Registration / Renewal of Registration of a Local Office of a Foreign Law Firm under section 10G of the Law Practitioners Act
- Application form for Registration / Renewal of Registration of Joint Law Venture under section 10H of the Law Practitioners Act
- Application form for Registration / Renewal of Registration of a Foreign Lawyer under section 10K of the Law Practitioners Act
Completed application forms, together with the relevant supporting documents and appropriate application fees, should be sent to:
The Legal Secretary
Attorney-General's Office
4th Floor, Renganaden Seeneevassen
Building
Jules Koenig Street
Port Louis
- Mission
- The Ministere Public, also referred to as the Parquet, is a common institution to the Civil and Criminal jurisdictions.
- As regards Civil law, its mission is to ensure that laws which lead to the good administration of Justice are applied and that Law and Order is upheld.
- Areas of intervention
- The Ministere Public intervenes in cases specifically provided for by law or upon its assistance being requested by the Courts.
- The areas of intervention of the Ministere Public are:
- Certificate of Morality (Certificat de Moralite)
- Change of Name
- Rectification of Birth Certificate and Marriage Certificate
- Nullity of Marriage
- Loss of Parental Authority (Decheance de l'Autorite Parentale)
- Action for Affiliation (Recherche de la Paternite)
- Adoption
- Protection of Minor's Rights
- Absence, Non-Presence and Disappearance (Disparition)
- Succession
- Curatorship (Curatelle).
- Nullity of Marriage
- The Ministere Public can intervene in the following specific circumstances:
- Whenever a Minor has contracted marriage (Art 144 Code Civil)
- 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 (Arts 145-146 Code Civil)
- Whenever there was no consent (Art 149 Code Civil)
- Whenever there is a second marriage without the first one having been dissolved (Art 150 Code Civil)
- Whenever there is a marriage within the prohibited degrees of relationship (Arts 150-153 Code Civil)
- Whenever the procedures have not been respected at the marriage ceremony (Art 189 Code Civil)
- 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 Ministere Public can intervene in order for the marriage to be declared valid (Art 195 Code Civil)
- In relation to (g) above, whenever the Public Officer has passed away at the time the fraud is discovered, the Ministere Public will enter a Civil action against his heirs, in presence of the interested parties and on their denunciation (Art 196 Code Civil).
- Loss of Parental Authority (Decheance de l'Autorite Parentale)
- The Ministere Public can intervene in the following circumstances:
- Whenever a Father and/or Mother is/are found guilty, either as author, co-author or accomplice, of a crime or misdemeanour, committed upon their child (Art 375 Code Civil)
- Or whenever they are found guilty, as co-author or accomplice, of a crime or misdemeanour committed by their child (Art 375 Code Civil)
- Apart from any criminal conviction, whenever either through ill-treatment, pernicious examples of habitual intoxication, notorious misconduct or delinquency, or through lack of care or lack of direction, which are such as to manifestly endanger the child's security, health and morality (Art 376 Code Civil).
- Action for Affiliation (Recherche de la Paternite)
- Art 340 Code Civil
- Adoption
- In general, where the Court or any Judge certifies by writing that the attendance in Court of the Ministère Public, (as represented by a law officer), is essential to the proper administration of justice, the Attorney General or any other law officer duly authorised by him may appear as party to the case and give his conclusions thereon.
- This is commonly done in cases where the civil status of any person or the guardianship of a minor is concerned. Adoption cases fall in this category.
- When a matter relating to an Adoption is referred to it, the Ministère Public has to satisfy itself that all the conditions is in the best interests of the Code Civil are respected and that the adoption is in the best interests of the child. factors such as age and consent are taken into account before the conclusions are reached. The overriding principle is the well-being of the child sought to be adopted.
- By virtue of Article 354 of the Code Civil too, the Ministère Public may appeal from a decision of the Judge in Chambers regarding an adoption.
- Protection of Minor's Rights
- Whenever a Minor's rights are involved, the Ministere Public intervenes in order to ensure that the decision which is taken is in the Minor's interests, and therefore protects the Minor's rights.
- The areas which require the intervention of the Ministere Public are:
- Division in Kind
- Sale of a Property belonging to the Minor solely or jointly with adults
- Whenever there is loss of Parental Authority
- Absence, Non-Presence and Disappearance (Disparition)
- The Ministere Public intervenes in order to protect the interests of those who are not physically present to look after their own interests.
- 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 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.
- Succession
- By article 776 of the Civil Code, a succession opening to a minor or a "majeur en tutelle" can only be accepted or renounced in conformity with the Civil Code under "de le minorité, de la tutelle et de l'emancipation par marriage". It cannot be made unless precededby the authorization of a family council.
The Law Revision Unit has been set up by the Revision of Laws Act for the purposes of revising enactments.
Its main functions are –
- to prepare revised editions and Supplements;
- to assist officers of the Drafting Unit in formatting Bills, Regulations, General Notices, Proclamations and such other documents;
- to assist law officers in looking for materials for Reply/drafting Reply to Parliamentary Questions;
- to proofread Regulations, Proclamations and such other documents and give strike off for the purpose of publication in the Gazette;
- to update and consolidate law books (Revised Laws of Mauritius and Revised Subsidiary Legislation of Mauritius) and laws on the web portal ;
- to assist in consolidating, updating and revising the Acts of Parliament and the Subsidiary Legislation of Mauritius;
- do all other things that are incidental or conducive to the proper performance of its functions.
WHAT IS RECTIFICATION?
Whenever a person is issued with a certified extract of birth/marriage/death entry, and the said document bears an error, as compared to the original entry found in the registers of the Registrar of Civil Status, this may be rectified.
The application does not involve any costs.
HOW IS AN APPLICATION FOR RECTIFICATION PROCESSED?
Section 50 of the Civil Status Act sets out the procedure:-
A Civil Status Officer or an interested party may make a written application to the Magistrate of the District in which the entry had been registered for an order authorizing the Registrar of Civil Status to amend the entry;
- Upon receipt of the said application, the Magistrate will refer it to the Ministère Public for its conclusions;
- The Ministère Public will conduct an enquiry;
- The Ministère Public will give its conclusions to the Magistrate; and
- The Magistrate will either grant or refuse the application.
IN CASE APPLICATION FOR RECTIFICATION IS FAVOURABLE, WHAT STEPS NEED TO BE TAKEN?
The Civil Status Officer or the interested party needs to notify the Registrar of Civil Status of that decision.
The Registrar of Civil Status will then cause the entry to be rectified.
CAN A PERSON DISSATISFIED WITH THE DECISION OF THE MAGISTRATE MAKE AN APPEAL?
Under Section 50(4), any person who is dissatisfied with the decision of a Magistrate may, not later than 6 weeks from the date of the decision, move to the Supreme Court for a reconsideration of the application.