Section 72:

72. Jury Act – Exclusion of persons on grounds of social conditions – Exclusion of women—The issue was whether the appellant had received a fair trial before an independent and impartial Court when the Jury Act at the time of the trial (that is, before the 1990 amendment) excluded persons of CON – 187 [Issue 1] The Constitution various social conditions, and women. In addition it was argued that the jury list did not contain an adequate cross-section of society. HELD it would be impossible to find more than a few Mauritian males who did not satisfy the requirements of section 2 (a), (c) and (d) of the Jury Act. The emancipation of women in Mauritius is a recent phenomenon. Local conditions must be borne in mind as must the fact that jurors must be kept together for long periods. Although the State has adopted a passive attitude and allowed citizens to decide whether or not to come forward for jury service, that does not deprive the appellant of a fair trial. Peerbocus v R (1991).