Someone is claiming money from you
Before anything else, work out two things: how old the debt is, and whether a court has been involved. A demand letter is not a judgment, and an old claim may be extinguished by prescription.
Written by the juris team. Not yet reviewed by a Mauritian lawyer.
What to do
- Find the date the debt arose, not the date of the letter demanding it.
- Check whether you were ever served with a court document. A letter from a debt collector is not one.
- Reply in writing, and keep a copy. Say what you accept and what you dispute, separately.
- Do not agree to a payment plan for a debt you dispute before you have checked its age. Acknowledging a debt has legal consequences.
What the law says
A small claim cannot be brought more than one year after the cause of action arose.
No claim under Part IIA shall be brought before a Court— ... (c) after the expiration of one year from the date on which the cause of action arose.
Where a small claim exceeds 25,000 rupees, the claimant may abandon the excess and the Court still has jurisdiction.
Where a claim is for an amount of more than 25,000 rupees, a claimant may abandon the excess, and the Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim.
What this guide does not cover
- Whether your particular debt is time-barred. Extinctive prescription runs from the day the right of action arose, and it is interrupted by a summons, a seizure or an acknowledgment by the debtor, and the interruption can itself be undone. juris carries the Code Civil periods but deliberately produces no date for them: see the prescription section of the deadline calculator, which explains why in the Code's own words.
Where the matter is heard
- District Court, small claims procedure: A money claim brought under Part IIA of the District and Intermediate Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act.
- District Court or Intermediate Court (ordinary civil): Ordinary civil claims, including a landlord's action to cancel a lease or to recover possession of property from a tenant or occupier.