About
us
The Agency
promoting good governance and integrity reporting
promoting good governance and integrity reporting
Who are we?
We are the Integrity Reporting Services Agency (the Agency) established under Section 4 of the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act 2015 (the Act).
The Act promotes good governance and integrity reporting to enhance the reputation of Mauritius as an international financial centre of excellence and unimpeachable integrity to encourage investment. It rewards those who promote and report acts of good governance and integrity reporting and allows for the confiscation of unexplained wealth.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help keep Mauritius free of corruption by investigating wealth that calls for an explanation and referring to the Court for confiscation of wealth that has not been satisfactorily explained.
The Director
The Director is a Chartered Accountant by profession who has over 30 years experience in detecting, investigating and building systems to prevent financial crimes world-wide.
He has investigated organised criminal networks committing complex commodity and financial frauds and consulted for major multi-nationals and governments. He also trained fiscal investigators in fraud detection, investigation and interviewing techniques in the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and the Far East.
Process
Other agencies have a duty to inform us when they come upon unexplained wealth. Members of the public are also encouraged to inform us of suspicious wealth by the promise of a reward if this leads to confiscation.
We carry out a thorough investigation of all reports and when appropriate call on the holder of wealth to explain how they acquired it. When we are not satisfied with the explanation, and subject to the oversight of the Board, we refer the case to the Court for “confiscation”.
Rewards
Monies from confiscated property are deposited in the “National Recovery Fund” and used to alleviate poverty and pay rewards for acts of good governance and for reports leading to the confiscation of unexplained wealth.
How the Act Works
Overview:
- The Agency receives reports of suspicious wealth or investigates on its own initiative;
- It reports to the Board;
- The Board considers the Agency’s report;
- The Board decides if an application for an Unexplained Wealth Order should be made;
Safeguards
- The processes above show the Act contains safeguards to prevent its misuse.
- Neither the Board nor the Agency can confiscate unexplained wealth.
- The Court alone decides if an Unexplained Wealth Order is justified.
- And only the Board can direct to Agency to send a case to the Court.
- Whenever the Agency requires an explanation of the source of wealth it reports the results of the investigation to the Board. The Board decides whether the case should be sent to the Court, further investigated or if no further action should be taken.
- If the Court decides an Unexplained Wealth Order is justified, the decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court and ultimately as far as the Privy Council.
- If the Court decides an order is not justified, no further action will be taken.
- These safeguards are strictly observed and prevent anyone from misusing the Act.
The Board
promoting good governance and integrity reporting
promoting good governance and integrity
Who are we?
We are the Integrity Reporting Board (the Board) established under Section 7 of the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act 2015 (the Act).
Independence
The Integrity Reporting Board is an independent board established to review cases investigated by the Agency and direct it accordingly. The Board comprises three Members of the highest probity to ensure the Act is impartially and properly applied and its safeguards observed.
Powers
The Board also has powers to request information from any enforcement agency and to call for any person to provide it with documents and other records. It only exercises these powers when it considers an application for their use by the Agency is appropriate.
The Board Members are
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD PHILLIPS OF WORTH MATRAVERS, KG, PC
(Chairperson)
Lord Phillips is a retired Law Lord and past President of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
He was called to the Bar in 1962 and took silk in 1978. During his time at the Bar of England and Wales he specialised in Commercial Law and Admiralty Law. He was appointed a Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division, where he sat in the Commercial Court. In 1999 he was elevated to the Court of Appeal, appointed Master of the Rolls in 2000 and Lord Chief Justice in 2005. Lord Phillips was appointed as Senior Law Lord in 2008 and oversaw the transition of the House of Lords to the Supreme Court in 2009, when he became the Court’s first President. He remains a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong and also the President of the Qatar International Court & Dispute Resolution Centre.
During his tenure in Judicial Office he presided over some of the most celebrated legal cases, including the complex prosecutions relating to the Maxwell Pension Funds, and also of Barlow Clowes. He also conducted the Public Inquiry into the causes and effects of the disastrous 1992 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak in the United Kingdom which cost the country almost GBP 1 billion.
SATYABHOOSHAN GUPT DOMAH
Mr Satyabhooshan Gupt Domah is a renowned retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Mauritius. He is a member of the United Nations Sub-Committee against torture and also Judge of appeal of Seychelles. Mr Domah holds a Doctorate in Comparative Law, University of Aix-Marseilles, a D.E.S. in Comparative Law, University of Aix-Marseilles, a Masters in International Law, University of London, and a Bachelor in Laws, University of London. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.
A major portion of his work on the Bench comprised application of the fundamental freedoms and liberties of the individual in a democratic system of Government. The hierarchical level of his functions is the highest national legal system of the two jurisdictions, except that for Mauritius it is just one level short of the Privy Council.
He is a writer of fiction and an author of professional works: short stories for the BBC and law books: Essentials of the Mauritian Legal System; The Theory and Practice of the Mauritian Law on Swindling; Mauritian Road Traffic Offences. His international publications include works on The Mauritian Constitution, Constitutions Africa, University of Antwerp; The Constitution of Mauritius, World Constitutions; Comparative Trust Law, Milton Keynes Publications, London. His monographs for the Institute of Security Studies, Cape Town compare laws in the African continent on corruption, terrorism, money-laundering and organized crime etc. He has been a visiting lecturer on human rights issues in Japanese, Chinese and Nepalese Universities.
JUGDISH DEV PHOKEER
Mr Jugdish Dev Phokeer is a retired Permanent Secretary. He has successively been responsible for different ministries namely: Ministry of Cooperative, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Health, The National Development Unit, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Technology Communication and Innovation and Ministry of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms before retiring in January 2017. He has more than 40 years of experience in the public sector.
He has also served on several Parastatal Boards and/or Government Companies as either Chairman, Director or Board Member.
Mr Phokeer holds a Diploma in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, a Post Graduate Diploma in Administration and a Master’s Degree Business Administration.
