Majority of citizens say sentences given to powerful people who break the law are too lenient....READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
The Mauritian legal system follows the British system for criminal law. The process begins with police investigations. From there, a case is built and sent to the director of public prosecution (DPP), who determines whether the case is likely to win in court. Both the posts of the DPP and the commissioner of police (CP) are constitutionally enshrined.
Since 2023, and for the first time in the history of post-independence Mauritius, there has been an open conflict between the CP and the DPP, generating shockwaves in Mauritian politics (Prayag, 2023).
The clash between the CP and the DPP, which centres on whose authority takes precedence once a case has been lodged, underscores significant institutional tensions and issues of authority within the judicial process system (Mauritius Times, 2023; Prayag, 2023). While Mauritius’ judiciary is acclaimed as a powerful safeguard of democracy and check on executive power (Meetarbhan, 2016; Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2024), some legal professionals have raised concerns about how the CP-DPP dispute might undermine the reservoir of goodwill enjoyed by the DPP and the judiciary, some of the country’s most revered institutions (Thanay, 2023).
Meanwhile, positive public perceptions of the police have been waning over the past decade amid accusations of corruption, arbitrary arrests and detention of political opponents, and cases of alleged “drug planting” – where police officers illegally place drugs upon a suspect’s property or person – although the latter has been challenged by the government (Mauritius Times, 2022; Matinal, 2023).
Afrobarometer’s latest survey in Mauritius sheds light on public perceptions of the judiciary and police. Findings show that a mere one-fifth of Mauritians view the rulings of judges and magistrates as completely free from political interference. Two-thirds of citizens suspect that at least some judges and magistrates are involved in corruption, a view that has gained traction since Afrobarometer’s first country survey in 2012.
While a slim majority of respondents say they trust the courts, that’s a far cry from the overwhelming majority who expressed faith in the judiciary in 2012. About half of respondents say they trust the police, compared to two-thirds of participants in the 2012 survey.
More than half of citizens believe that ordinary citizens can obtain justice in the courts and that cases they lodge will be adjudicated fairly. But a majority also think sentences for powerful individuals and government officials found guilty of wrongdoing are too lenient.
L. Amédée Darga L. Amédée Darga is the Afrobarometer national investigator in Mauritius.
