UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

MSc Project Management

Legal Aspect of project Management : LAW 5401
Assignment title:
What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system
which you can put to daily use in the proper management
of the project in your field of professional practice?
Name: Hymabaccus Mohammad Altaf Fehmi
Student ID: 1320463



Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
My professional practice:
I am a Civil Engineer working at The Wastewater Management Authority. My professional
practice deals with various aspects of project management. In the daily practice of my work I do
the following activities that may be pertaining to the Mauritian legal system:
Being part of the Council of Registered professional Engineers of Mauritius.
Prepare tender documents for work contracts, evaluate them.
Prepare contract documents and do contract agreements.
Dispute award of contracts at the Independent Review Panel.
Manage workers on site and ensuring their health and safety.
Before starting of any wastewater project, prepare an Environment Impact Assessment
and carry out follow up on the recommendations during and after implementation of the
project.
Deal with Contractors and Consultants on various issues and finding solutions for
disputes.
PART 1: LAWS AND SYSTEMS THAT DICTATES THE MANAGEMENT OF MY PROJECTS
1. Wastewater Management Authority Act 2000
The Wastewater Management Authority, in which I work, was established under the WMA Act
2000. All the frameworks, authority and policies in, on and with which I work daily was
established under this Act.
The WMA Act 2000 established the WMA as a corporate body and was proclaimed on August
30, 2001.
The Authority operates under two legal instruments, signed on August 31, 2001, which regulate
the relationship between WMA and the Ministry of Renewable Energy and Public Utilities.
These instruments are:
Convention de Matrise dOuvrage Delegue (for the construction of new works)
Contrat de Dlgation (for the Operation & Maintenance of the Public Wastewater
Systems)
Under the Convention de Matrise dOuvrage Delegue, the Government of Mauritius entrusted
to WMA the overall responsibility for the implementation of all projects under the National
Sewerage Program (NSP). This program objective is to connect 50 % of the population to the
public sewer system by 2011 / 2015.
Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
Under the Contrat de Dlgation, the WMA is responsible to the Government for the Operation
and Maintenance of all Governments wastewater assets in use in the Public Sewerage Systems.
Therefore this Act is essential in the practice of my job as it defines my legal status in which I can
evolve, what I can do or not as an employee of the Authority.
2. The CRPE Act 1966 (amended 2008)
The CRPE Act 1966 is the framework under which Engineers evolved in Mauritius. For anyone to
work as an Engineer he must be registered with the Council on Registered Professional Engineers
of Mauritius under this act.
This act defines the practice of engineering and has provision for actions against anyone not
registered and practicing engineering in Mauritius.
It defines it as follows:
Practice of engineering means the advising on, the reporting on, the designing or the approval
of designs of all public utilities, industrial works, bridges, tunnels, highways, roads, canals,
drainage works, irrigation works, water works, water purification plants, sewage works, sewage
disposal works, incinerators, hydraulic works, power transmission systems, steels, concrete and
reinforced concrete structures;
This Act also has provision that allow the Council to be removed as Professional Engineer under
certain conditions such as malpractice or gross negligence in the performance of his duty.
Therefore as an Engineer, this Act is of fundamental important as it dictates what I can do or not
as a Professional.
3. Public Procurement Act 2006
The Public Procurement Act 2006 provide for the basic principles and procedures to be applied
in, and regulate, the public procurement of goods, public works, consultant services and other
services and for the institutions responsible for those matters.
The Act sets the framework under which any procurement works in the public sector should
follow. In the daily practice of my work, I deal with tendering, evaluating and awarding of many
contracts for procurement of goods, work contracts and consultancies.
I used this Act to choose which procedures to adopt for a specific type of work. It is very important
for a public officer to strictly follow these procedures and only these procedures in dealing with
public procurements, as it is a very sensitive matter. Allocations of contracts are very well
Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
scrutinized by the population, the media and the opposition. Any inconformity to the Act can
result in wrong decision taking.
This Act ensures freedom of competition and opportunity for any interested bidder. In case any
bidder feels it was unjustly disqualified, the Act allows an avenue for the bidder to challenge the
decision of the public body. The Act set up a committee named Independent Review Panel
comprising of members having wide experience in legal, administrative, economic, financial or
engineering matters appointed by the President of the Republic.
Under this Act the following exists:
The Procurement Policy office
The Central procurement Board
Procurement methods, bidding processes
Provision for challenge and appeal
Contents of contract agreements
Integrity, duties and conduct of public bodies and their officers.

4. Occupational Safety and Health Act 2005
This Act lays down the responsibilities of the Employer and Employees wherever work is
performed under a contract of employer, by a self-employed person or by an outworker. This Act
binds the state.
The following provisions in the Act is of high importance for the proper management of my
project and delivery of my duties as Engineer:
Section 5. Duties of employer regarding Safety and Health Officers
(1) Every employer shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the safety, health
and welfare at work of all his employees.
(2) The employer shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, in particular
(a) (i) provide and maintain a working environment;
(ii) provide and maintain any plant or system of work;
(iii) maintain any place of work under his control, including the means
of access to, or egress from it, that is safe and without risks to
health;
(b) ensure that use, handling, storage or transport of articles or substances
is safe and without risks to health;
(c) provide and maintain adequate facilities and arrangements for the
welfare at work of his employees;
Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
(d) provide information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary
to ensure the safety and health at work of his employees;
(e) ensure that any person not in his employment is not exposed to any risk
to his safety or health.
Section 9. Duties of employer regarding Safety and Health Officers
(1) The employer shall provide to every Safety and Health Officer sufficient time
and adequate resources to enable him to discharge his duties.
(2) The employer shall provide a register to the Safety and Health Officer for the
purpose of recording his findings and recommendations after an inspection or
any other matter relating to his functions.
Section 10. Risk assessment by employer
(1) Every employer shall, within 30 days of the start of operation of his undertaking,
make a suitable and sufficient assessment of
(a) any risk to the safety and health to which any employee is exposed whilst
he is at work; and
(b) any risk to the safety and health of any person not in his employment
arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,
for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to implement in order to comply
with the requirements imposed upon him by this Act, and any other enactment.
Section 14. Duties of employees
(1) Every employee shall, while at work
(a) take reasonable care for the safety and health of himself and of other
persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work;
(b) cooperate with his employer in the discharge of any duty or requirement
placed upon the employer under this Act;
(c) wear or use any protective equipment or clothing provided by the employer
in pursuance of this Act at all times when there is a risk of bodily injury
against which the equipment or clothing affords protection;
(d) report forthwith to his employer the loss or destruction of, or defect in, the
protective equipment or clothing entrusted to him;
(e) not smoke at the place of work, except in an area demarcated for that
purpose;
(f) use correctly safety devices provided under this Act;
(g) subject to section 48, not wilfully or recklessly make inoperative any guard
provided on any machinery;
(h) report forthwith to the employer or his representative any situation which,
he has reason to believe, could present a risk to his safety and health; and
Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
(i) report forthwith to the employer any bodily injury sustained by him, as a
result of an accident arising out of, or in connection with, his work.

Under this act the project manager (usually an Engineer) has the responsibility of the health and
safety of its employees and may delegate part of it to its officers, through a health and safety
officer or to site engineers.

I have delegated powers to ensure health and safety (H&S) on my sites, to prepare risk
assessment reports and inform the workers on site about the risk and how to prevent the risks.
We organise monthly H&S site meetings with all employees and people that may reasonably be
on the working sites and discuss the risks management. As such, I put to use on a daily basis the
provision of this Act.

5. Environment Protection Act 2002
Environmental aspects of any civil engineering project is of major importance for a country and
this is taken care under the Environment Protection Act 2008 (EPA).
The main part of the Act that concerns me in the practice of my work is Part 4 Section 17, which
talk about Environmental Impact Assessment for undertakings, to be done in either the form
of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report or a Preliminary Environmental Report.
17. Non-listed activity
(1) Notwithstanding section 15, where in his opinion a project or an activity not specified as an
undertaking under the First Schedule is likely, by reason of its nature, scope, scale and sensitive
location, to have an impact on the environment or on the zoning of an area, the Minister may
request the person carrying out or proposing to carry out the project or activity to submit a PER
or an application for an EIA license.
(2) Where a request for submission of a PER or an application for an EIA license is made, the
project or activity shall be deemed to be an undertaking specified under the First Schedule in
respect of which a PER or an EIA license is required, as the case may be.
Under this Act, before a project goes on the implementation stage, an environmental impact
assessment must be carried out. Acquiring an EIA license is a major step in a civil engineering
project and I have to deal with it on all of my projects. This Act sets the framework for
environmental protection and safeguard in all civil engineering projects and help in reducing and
controlling negative environmental impacts of my projects. Also EIA committees should be set
up and follow up reports are required.
This Act also sets standards for water, air, effluent, noise, wastes and odour, and as Civil Engineer,
I should ensure that our projects abides to them in all regards.
Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
PART 2: LAWS AND SYSTEMS THAT FACILITATES THE MANAGEMENT OF MY PROJECTS
The following legal systems provides me with alternatives to costly, timely and unhealthy usual
recourse to litigation to solve problems between different parties involved in management of a
construction project. The following systems may be of great help to me if a major dispute arises
in the managements of my projects.
6. Court Act 1945 Article 17A Mediation
This Act talks about the court system in Mauritius. However the part that concerns me in the
management of my projects is its Article 17A where it depicts mediation.
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), a way of resolving
disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects. Typically, a third party, the
mediator, assists the parties to negotiate a settlement. The term "mediation" broadly refers to
any instance in which a third party helps others reach agreement. More specifically, mediation
has a structure, timetable and dynamics that "ordinary" negotiation lacks. The process is private
and confidential, possibly enforced by law. Participation is typically voluntary. The mediator acts
as a neutral third party and facilitates rather than directs the process.
The Court Act sets the framework and procedures for a project manager or anyone as follows:
17A. Mediation
(1) The Supreme Court shall have the power and jurisdiction to conduct mediation in any civil suit,
action, cause and matter that may be brought and may be pending before the Supreme Court.
(2) The Chief Justice may, before or at any stage of any proceedings, refer any civil suit, action,
cause or matter to a Judge for mediation with a view to disposing of that civil suit, action, cause
or matter by agreement or narrowing down the issues therein.
(3) Where a civil suit, action, cause or matter is referred for mediation under subsection (2)
(a) the Judge to whom it is referred shall have such powers as may be prescribed for conducting
mediation; and
(b) the parties shall submit themselves to mediation and shall endeavour to dispose of the civil
suit, action, cause or matter.
(4) Where a civil suit, action, cause or matter has not been disposed of through mediation, the
Judge shall cause the case to be fixed for trial.

Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
The benefits of mediation include:
Cost: While a mediator may charge a fee comparable to that of an attorney, the mediation
process generally takes much less time than moving a case through standard legal
channels. While a case in the hands of a lawyer or a court may take months or years to
resolve, mediation usually achieves a resolution in a matter of hours. Taking less time
means expending less money on hourly fees and costs.
Confidentiality: While court hearings are public, mediation remains strictly confidential.
No one but the parties to the dispute and the mediator(s) know what happened.
Confidentiality in mediation has such importance that in most cases the legal system
cannot force a mediator to testify in court as to the content or progress of mediation.
Many mediators destroy their notes taken during a mediation once that mediation has
finished. The only exceptions to such strict confidentiality usually involve child abuse or
actual or threatened criminal acts.
Control: Mediation increases the control the parties have over the resolution. In a court
case, the parties obtain a resolution, but control resides with the judge or jury. Often, a
judge or jury cannot legally provide solutions that emerge in mediation. Thus, mediation
is more likely to produce a result that is mutually agreeable for the parties.
Compliance: Because the result is attained by the parties working together and is
mutually agreeable, compliance with the mediated agreement is usually high. This further
reduces costs, because the parties do not have to employ an attorney to force compliance
with the agreement. The mediated agreement is, however, fully enforceable in a court of
law.
Mutuality: Parties to a mediation are typically ready to work mutually toward a
resolution. In most circumstances the mere fact that parties are willing to mediate means
that they are ready to "move" their position. The parties thus are more amenable to
understanding the other party's side and work on underlying issues to the dispute. This
has the added benefit of often preserving the relationship the parties had before the
dispute.
Support: Mediators are trained in working with difficult situations. The mediator acts as
a neutral facilitator and guides the parties through the process. The mediator helps the
parties think "outside of the box" for possible solutions to the dispute, broadening the
range of possible solutions.

Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
7. International Arbitration Act 2008
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), is a technique for the resolution of
disputes outside the courts. The parties to a dispute refer it to arbitration by one or more persons
(the "arbitrators", "arbiters" or "arbitral tribunal"), and agree to be bound by the arbitration
decision (the "award"). A third party reviews the evidence in the case and imposes a decision that
is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts.
Arbitration can be either voluntary or mandatory (although mandatory arbitration can only come
from a statute or from a contract that is voluntarily entered into, where the parties agree to hold
all existing or future disputes to arbitration, without necessarily knowing, specifically, what
disputes will ever occur) and can be either binding or non-binding. Non-binding arbitration is
similar to mediation in that a decision cannot be imposed on the parties. However, the principal
distinction is that whereas a mediator will try to help the parties find a middle ground on which
to compromise, the (non-binding) arbitrator remains totally removed from the settlement
process and will only give a determination of liability and, if appropriate, an indication of the
quantum of damages payable. By one definition arbitration is binding and so non-binding
arbitration is technically not arbitration.
The Act explains about:
Arbitration agreement
Proceedings
The Arbitral tribunal
Measures by the tribunal
Conduct of the arbitral proceedings
The award


Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
PART 3: LAWS THAT ARE INDIRECTLY PUT INTO PRACTICE IN MANAGEMENT OF MY PROJECTS
1. Civil Code Article 1382, 1383 and 1384.
The articles are as follows:
Code Civil Mauricien:
1382. Tout fait quelconque de lhomme, qui cause autrui un dommage, oblige celui par la faute
duquel il est arriv, le rparer.
1383. Chacun est responsable du dommage quil a caus non seulement par son fait, mais encore
par sa ngligence ou par son imprudence.
1384. On est responsable non seulement du dommage que lon cause par son propre fait, mais
encore de celui qui est caus par le fait des personnes dont on doit rpondre, ou des choses que
lon a sous sa garde.
These three (3) closes of the Civil Code is of major concern to me, as Engineer and responsible on
a construction site. It does not only lays emphasis on damages caused by my own negligence but
also on my responsibility of the damages causes but people for which I am responsible for.
This means that even if I involuntarily did something or omitted to do something on the
construction site and this caused damages to someone, I am personally liable to repair it. This is
also true for people working under me. This fact set by this these laws, requires additional
vigilance from the side of the responsible person, which is me on certain construction sites. These
laws stop me from putting all blames on the end-worker under me for a negligence on my site.
Due to the provisions under these laws, this commits me to carry our additional inspections and
the appointment of an officer dedicated to ensure no damage reasonable avoidable to happen.

Title: What are the fundamentals of the Mauritian Legal system which you can put to daily use in
the proper management of the project in your field of professional practice?
2. Criminal Code 239.
It goes as follows:
239 Involuntary homicide and wounds and blows
(1) Any person who, by unskilfulness, imprudence, want of caution, negligence or non-
observance of regulations, involuntarily commits homicide, or is the unwilling cause of
homicide shall be punished by imprisonment and by a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees.
(2) Sil nest rsult que des blessures ou coups, la peine sera dune amende qui ne pourra excder
10,000 roupies, ou dun emprisonnement qui nexcdera pas 2 mois

This law is particularly important for me as an Engineer responsible of a construction site, and I
should keep it in mind in management of my projects every time, as for any negligence from me
that results in death, wounds or blows, I risk imprisonment and/or a fine. Being convicted under
Article 239 of the Criminal Code maybe also result in disqualification under the CRPE Act, and
interdiction to practice as Engineer in Mauritius. This may be end of my career.
3. Copyright Act 1997
Intellectual property refers to the creation of the mind (including inventions and designs). During
the conception and implementation of an engineering project, many inventions, designs and
drawings are used. Oftentimes, attention is not made as to the true owner of the intellectual
property. This maybe a big mistake, by the engineer (me), to use someone else intellectual
property without a written agreement of such with the owner, as it may lately lead to huge
monetary claims.
During the practice and management of my project, I have to keep in mind the existence of the
above laws and ensure that I never contravene them.