Section 54: Separation of powers – Usurpation of judicial power—The plaintiff sold

54. Separation of powers – Usurpation of judicial power—The plaintiff sold an immovable to an alien in circumstances which made the sale null and void. The Supreme Court held that the plaintiff was the legal owner of the immovable. Subsequently Parliament passed an Act which deemed that the sale was valid and that the alien had a valid title to the immovable. It is a fundamental disposition of the Constitution that there should be a separation of powers between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Parliament has no more right to pronounce judgments than the Supreme Court has a right to make laws. The enactment was a usurpation of judicial power, and must be struck down. In spite of the Act, the plaintiff remained the legal owner of the immovable. HELD the Act amounted to a deprivation of property in breach of section 3 of the Constitution, and must be struck down. Mahboob v Government of Mauritius (1982).