PART II – OFFENCES AND JURISDICTION OF COURTS OF MAURITIUS

5. Responsibility of commanders and superiors

(1) It shall not be a defence for a person charged with an international crime to plead that he had no responsibility for the crime if the crime was committed by forces under his effective command and control, or, as the case may be, his effective authority and control, as military commander, or a person effectively acting as a military commander, and there was a failure to exercise proper control over those forces where –
(a) he knew, or owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit the offence; and
(b) he failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress its commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
(2) It shall not be a defence for a person, other than a person referred to in subsection (1), to plead that he had no responsibility for the crime if the crime was committed by subordinates under his effective authority and control as a superior, and there was a failure to exercise proper control over those subordinates where –
(a) he knew, or consciously disregarded information which clearly indicated, that his subordinates were committing or about to commit the offence;
(b) the offence concerned activities that were within his effective responsibility and control; and
(c) he failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress its commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be read as restricting or excluding any liability of the
commander or superior under any other enactment or the liability of persons other than the commander or superior