March 2013, Port Louis came to a standstill with an unprecedented flashflood where eleven people lost their lives. It also caused serious damage to infrastructure and property. B. CONSTITUTIONAL, POLITICAL AND LEGAL STRUCTURE OF MAURITIUS THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE 14. The Constitution of Mauritius which is a written document based on the Westminster model, establishes Mauritius as a sovereign democratic State and rests on two fundamental tenets which are the rule of law and the principle of separation of powers between the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary so that one branch of government may not trespass on the province of any other. Accordingly, the power to make laws has been vested into Parliament exclusively and the Courts are not entitled to encroach upon or usurp such powers. 15. The Constitution being the ‘supreme law of Mauritius’, it is the duty of the Courts not only to interpret but also to ensure compliance with its provisions. It is up to the Supreme Court to determine the validity of any statute which is alleged to be unconstitutional and if any such law is found to be inconsistent with the Constitution, that law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be declared void. 16. The primary concern of the Courts of law where a contravention of the Constitution is established is to ensure that such contravention is redressed as judiciously and expeditiously as possible. Chapter II of the Constitution provides for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual. These fundamental rights and freedoms are largely inspired from the European Convention on Human Rights and include, inter alia, the right to life, the right to personal liberty, protection from slavery and forced labour, protection from inhuman treatment, protection from deprivation of property, protection of the law, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of movement, protection for the privacy of home and other property and protection from discrimination. The Constitution makes provision under section 17 for an aggrieved party whose rights under Chapter II of the Constitution have been, are being or are likely to be contravened to seek redress to the Supreme Court. THE LEGAL STRUCTURE 17. The Judiciary of Mauritius was ranked 49th by the World Economic Forum for judicial independence and 25th by the Heritage Foundation’s 2019 index of Economic Freedom for Judicial effectiveness. 9