LE REDUIT,

MAURITIUS

FOREWORD

It gives me great pleasure to welcome and commend this timely book on the history of the legal and judicial system of Reunion Island. This publication is a comprehensive survey of the origins of the legal and judicial system of Reunion Island which date from as early as 1711 and highlight the salient developments which have left an indelible imprint upon it.

It is interesting to note, for instance, that the first school of law was established in 1825 in Reunion Island and the reasons given - they are still valid today - were- pour assurer une bonne administration de la justice, la science du droit n'est pas moins nécessaire dans les hommes appelés à défendre les parties divisées que dans les magistrats chargés de prononcer.

Such a study would be incomplete without reference to the men who form part of the system and make it work efficiently - the legal profession and the Bench. Consequently three useful chapters are aptly devoted to the legal profession and the outstanding judges who have left their imprint on the judicial scene in Reunion Island.

 The learned author also makes a review of the inextricable links between Mauritius and Reunion islands from 1715 to 1810 and gives a historical account of the various events which took place in both islands during that period and which shaped their respective legal and judicial systems. The existing system prevailing in Mauritius has not been neglected and prominence is given to an admirable paper on the subject presented in 1986 by Mr Justice Glover, Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Mauritius, to the - Association des juristes.

This book, I am sure, will be a precious document not only for the legal profession and the Bench but also for the historian and indeed any person who has an interest in the history of one of the most important and respected institutions of the sister islands Reunion and Mauritius – the judiciary.

              9 th February, 1987

       VEERASAMY RINGADOO

Gouverneur Général de l’Ile Maurice