The Chairman's Message

I started my first year as your Chairman with mixed feelings: the most positive of which is one of great optimism for our new website. The Mauritian Bar Association is a professional body for barristers in Mauritius. It provides representation and services for the Bar and guidance on several issues such as that of professional practice. It updates barristers and members of the public on the changes in the law as what really counts now is our ability to keep up with the future. I hope that this website will help you all to do so.

We have also launched the new website so as to cater for a diverse audience. In this time of economic turmoil, where nothing seems to be assured any longer, knowing where to turn to obtain the right legal advice, should things go wrong can be quite tricky and daunting. However the new Mauritian Bar Association website is looking to help provide the solution. The website has been designed in a way to assist not only the legal people but also those looking for help, by putting them in touch with steps that need to be taken when being in legal difficulties.

The website has also been launched with the new callees in mind. One of our many aims was to try and instil core values in those who have just embraced our legal world. We should always be able to empower clients, enabling them to solve their problems by providing access to legal advice so as to get them back on their feet, helping them restore and re-build their lives. Putting the client at the heart of the process is also very vital and this can only be done by providing high level of service, timely and reliable advice with a real focus on innovation through creative problem solving. Among many others there stand one particular value that should never be forgotten. It is that of maintaining integrity by being truthful and candid, keeping promises and delivering commitments without forgetting that our main duty remains to be faithful to the court.

The website itself represents a virtual office and now that we have also established an actual physical one, my team and I are considering employing a full time staff. It thus serves as a fitting support mechanism to guarantee a well-performing and ethical judicial system.

As most of you are aware the Law Practitioner’s Act makes it compulsory for all barristers to join the Mauritius Bar Association. As a result in order to be able to achieve our aims we were therefore forced to increase the membership fee. This will allow us in making ends meet and simultaneously achieve our aims with you people in mind.

This year the Mauritius Bar Association has embarked on a number of initiatives aimed at improving our legal system. One of them was participating fully in the Judicial Conference organised in September 2009 and who turned out to be a success among barristers, magistrates and judges. The delegates from the Middle Temple and the Mauritius Bar Association were brought together under the supervision of the Chief Justice, for the organisation of the Judicial Conference wherein it formulated reform measures with the objectives of enhancing the transparency of the judicial appointment system and enhancing the training of judges.

To conclude, in spite of the wear and tear and the erosion of values suffered during the passage of time, the legal fraternity in Mauritius remains to be the most influential seat of the society and the legal profession continues to be a noble and learned profession among all public profession, about which every lawyer in this country is proud of. We are sure under the leadership of the Mauritius Bar Association, this hegemony and heritage could be retained and cemented.

Shaukat Oozeer
Chairman