Prescription: Time Limits for Civil Claims in Mauritius

Prescription is the Civil Code mechanism by which time can extinguish an enforceable right or, in a different setting, support acquisition of a right. For an unpaid invoice or damages claim, the concern is extinctive prescription: delay can give the defendant a complete defence even though the documents show an underlying obligation. The correct calculation requires the legal classification, starting date, applicable period and every possible interruption or suspension.

What prescription means in Mauritian law

Articles 2219 and 2219-1 distinguish acquisitive prescription from the extinction of a right through non-use during the legally fixed period. Extinctive prescription is not ordinarily supplied by the judge without a party raising it. Article 2224 permits it to be invoked even on appeal, unless the entitled person has renounced it in a manner from which renunciation must be inferred. This makes prescription both a pre-action risk for the claimant and a defence that the respondent must identify deliberately.

When the clock starts running

For personal actions, article 2271 generally starts time on the day the right of action arises. That is not necessarily the signature date. A loan repayable on 1 June may become actionable when payment is not made as due; recurring invoices may produce separate causes on separate dates; a conditional obligation may not be exigible until the condition occurs. Article 2257 also addresses rights depending on a condition, warranty claims and obligations fixed for a particular day. The contract and performance history therefore control the chronology.

The Code counts prescription by days rather than hours, and it is acquired when the last day is complete. A responsible deadline calculation works backwards from source documents: agreement and amendments, delivery or completion records, invoices, agreed due dates, defect notices and payment ledger. A label such as “ongoing breach” cannot safely convert old, distinct defaults into one fresh claim.

Interrupting and suspending prescription

Article 2244 recognises interruption through a citation in court, a commandement or a saisie served on the person sought to be prevented from prescribing; article 2246 preserves interruption even where the citation was brought before an incompetent judge. There is an important trap in article 2247: if the citation is void for form, the claimant discontinues, the case lapses or the demand is rejected, the interruption is treated as not having occurred. A demand letter may be commercially sensible, but it is not listed as a substitute for these formal steps.

Suspension has a different function: the existing elapsed time is not erased, but the clock does not run during a protected situation recognised by law. The Code includes rules concerning certain minors or protected adults, spouses and conditional claims, all subject to their precise exceptions. Do not interchange “suspended” and “interrupted” when calculating the remaining period.

Different periods for different claims

Subject to special legislation, article 2270 gives personal actions a ten-year period. Many breach-of-contract claims are personal actions, but that is a starting classification, not a promise of ten years for every dispute. The Code itself contains shorter particular prescriptions, while real actions are governed separately and other statutes can displace the general rule. Employment, carriage, insurance, professional and succession claims should each be checked under their own legal source.

Contract wording also matters without allowing parties simply to rewrite mandatory prescription law. It identifies when performance is due, whether acceptance was conditional and whether an obligation was varied. Clear drafting of milestones and notice machinery, discussed in the contract-drafting guide, can prevent a later dispute over when the right first became actionable.

Acknowledgment of debt and its effect

Article 2248 provides that acknowledgment by the debtor or possessor of the right of the person against whom prescription was running interrupts the period. A signed balance confirmation is an obvious candidate; a request for additional time or part-payment may also evidence acknowledgment, but its scope must be read in context. Payment of one disputed invoice does not necessarily acknowledge every item in a running account. Preserve the full email chain, payment reference and ledger rather than isolating one favourable phrase.

What happens if you file out of time

Once prescription is acquired, the beneficiary may renounce it expressly or tacitly, but article 2220 prohibits advance renunciation. Under article 2221, tacit renunciation must result unequivocally from conduct showing abandonment of the acquired defence. A creditor should not describe a courteous reply as revival without examining that test. Equally, a debtor negotiating an old account should understand the possible effect before signing a recognition or making an unqualified payment.

If the defendant establishes an acquired prescription and has not renounced it, a substantively credible claim can fail. Suppose a Port Louis supplier discovers old unpaid invoices while closing its accounts. The useful analysis is invoice by invoice: contractual due date, later variation, exact acknowledgment, formal proceedings and any suspension. Sending a new invoice with today’s date does not create a new cause of action for the same historic delivery.

Practical steps to protect your claim

Create a table with one row per obligation and columns for the legal basis, amount or remedy, performance due date, alleged default, acknowledgment, court step and supporting document. Obtain the originating agreement and amendments, not only screenshots exchanged during negotiations. If the margin may be short, an attorney and barrister can determine the proper process; their distinct functions are explained in the guide to Mauritian legal professionals. Settlement discussions should proceed without allowing an unverified deadline to expire.

A prescription analysis should be recorded as a reasoned calculation, not a date typed into a diary. It should identify the statutory article or special Act used, explain the accrual date and show the legal effect of each later event. The related article on contract formation may assist where the first dispute is whether an enforceable obligation existed at all.

This article is general legal information for Mauritius, not legal advice. For advice on your situation, consult a barrister.