FREE SPEECH AND SCANDALISING THE COURT IN MAURITIUS

Extract

AT the behest of the Law Commission, Contempt of Court: Scandalising the Court (18 December 2012), Parliament recently abolished the common law offence of scandalising the court (s. 33 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013). But the offence is still frequently found in many parts of the common law world and the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Dhooharika v DPP of Mauritius [2014] UKPC 11; [2014] 3 W.L.R. 1081 may indicate its future in common law jurisdictions. The Privy Council was asked to decide, inter alia, whether the common law offence was compatible with s. 12 of the Constitution of Mauritius. Section 12 protects a person's freedom of expression but also makes saving for any law, or any act done pursuant to law, which aims to maintain the authority and independence of the courts and which is reasonably justifiable to that end.