Yovesh's Mauritius

What is corroboration? Corroboration connotes support or confirmation in relation to the law of evidence and basically refers to testimony which tends to confirm a fact in issue upon which some evidence has already been given. It is the independent evidence which will render the truth of the testimony more probable as to the commission of the offence and implication of the accused therewith.   The peculiar characteristics of corroborative evidence have been set out in the case of R v Beck namely;  The evidence comes from an independent source; It must be credible witness; It confirms that the crime or the act has been committed; and  The evidence implicates the accused in the commission of the crime or the impugned acting some material particular.  The case of DPP v. Hester from common law has shown that one credible witness is enough. The Supreme Court of Mauritius has reaffirmed this principle through the case of Paruit v. R, where it was held the court has...

France has just passed a law to ban hijab for minors (person who are aged less than 18 years old). France had already banned the wearing of hijabs in public schools since 2004. We can see that someone is obsessed by the hijab. It is to be noted that France proudly say that they are a secular state. This law to restrict minors from wearing hijabs has just been passed.  With respect to the bill; French Senator, Christian Bilhac said: "To what extent can a secular state tolerate that children display religious signs in full view of everyone? It is not up to parents to impose dogma on children. It is essential that there are protective spaces for them and a pathway to emancipation." The bill has been justified by mainly 2 points which are: 1. Hijab signifies inferiority of women to men.                                     2. Parents should not impo...

  The declaration of assets act 2018 is one of the legislations which has been widely popular among the population. As this legislation has the duty to bring transparency to the wealth of the public figures who are mainly politicians. The assets of any Member of Parliament can be consulted on the website of ICAC.  However, this piece of legislation is not as effective as it should have been as there are loopholes which maybe have been kept deliberately. The aim of this law is to bring the assets owned by the Members of Parliament to the eyes of the population. There are numerous ways by which the politicians can escape this piece of legislation.  We should also keep in mind that the Members of Parliament will not enact an act which will endanger their power, money and influence. If we make an abstraction on the fact the ICAC is not really independent, the declaration of assets act 2018 is full of loopholes ready to be used.  The fact that trust law in Mauritius shiel...

T he world along with Mauritius is sure to be in a deep financial dilemma as a result to the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This lockdown has destroyed most businesses however there are some businesses which strived in this atmosphere. In many countries and especially in many states of the United States of America cannabis businesses have been considered to be an essential business and was allowed to operate. There have been very long queues before the lockdown was enforced  in front of the cannabis stores as those consumers believed that cannabis helped them to cope with pressure. What we should understand is why was this plant is banned and treated like a dangerous drug in Mauritius. It is mainly due to political reasons rather than health issues. The banning of this god-gifted plant is also due to racist reasons but the society is teaching us that it is banned because it is bad for health. In Mauritius, the decision to ban the cannabis is that of the Briti...

T he drugs are taking on the youth as if the pollution of our planet is not enough to endanger our future. Mauritius has become a place where drugs are becoming readily available to any person as from the age of 12. Youngsters buying drugs on the streets and going to school completely out of the world but the real issue is how these students are getting the drugs. One cannot imagine how readily drugs are available in Mauritius especially the infamous ‘Sythé’. If you did not attend the secondary school in the last 5 years you are not aware of the situation in Mauritius and how the drugs are affecting the youth. Many teachers and stakeholders in the Minsitry of Education do not know the system of the ‘ti baron’ in the schools which is one of the key problems in the spreading of drugs in these institutions. ‘Sythé’ which comes under many names like ‘bat dan latet’, ‘crocodile’ and others, have become so cheap that a dose of these can be bought by anyone. The average price of a dose...

T he right to vote is a fundamental principle enshrined in the Constitution of Mauritius. The universal suffrage is taken for granted by Mauritians, especially the new generation. The right to vote was not a gift but it was the fruit of a long and difficult fight.  The right to vote gives the power to the people of Mauritius after 5 years to choose the Member of Parliaments and the Government they want to see in power. The right to vote is a very important tool in a democracy, as the will of the people is expressed through these votes. Unfortunately, in this modern era a lot of Mauritians no longer have an interest in the elections especially the youngsters. The typical sentence used by most Mauritians is ‘1 vote la ki pou changer sa’, indeed one vote will not changed the outcome of the election.  On the other hand, in the recent general election of 2019 in Mauritius in the constituency No. 1 the number of votes separating the third and fourth candidate is 47 votes and i...