Mauritius Government

Mauritius is a sovereign state within the British Commonwealth. The head of state is the President of the Republic who is elected by the National Assembly. The Prime Minister is the leader of the winning party after elections for the National Assembly, which are held every 5 years, and is appointed by the President. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the Prime Minister's recommendation. The leader of the opposition is also appointed by the President and is normally the leader of the main opposition party. There are 62 members of the National Assembly who represent the 21 constituencies; a further 8 members are nominated as best losers in an attempt to give fair representation to ethnic groups and minority parties.

The Prime Minister is Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM (since 5 July 2005).

Mauritius's legal system is a mixture of English Common Law and French Civil Law. Company and procedural law is based on English law. Substantive law is in the main modeled on the Napoleonic code. The Supreme Court of Mauritius is the highest court in the republic; final appeal is to the Privy Council in England.