According to the government, the Law Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2008 provides for "the setting up and functioning of law firms, the status of a legal consultant, the registration of law firms, foreign law firms, joint law ventures and foreign lawyers, the framework for the regulation of the practice of foreign law and international law in Mauritius and for related matters".

The new legislation has, unsurprisingly been welcomed by overseas lawyers, with the UK's Law Society commenting last month that:

"Up until now lawyers have been permitted to offer their services on an individual basis. The new legislation will allow foreign law firms to establish offices and enter joint ventures and partnerships with domestic firms."

"Mauritius has already established itself as an attractive offshore market; English, French and Hindi are fluently spoken throughout the jurisdiction and its working day overlaps with those of both the UK and China. "

"The arrival of international firms on the island is expected to bring even greater growth through international expertise and investment of which the benefits can be shared with the domestic profession."

However, the move is being viewed with caution by some observers.

Writing in in L'Express recently, Marc Hein explained that:

"This bill is the result of a number of reports, the last one being from the Law Reform Commission. What I write here may sound alarmist but it is meant to be constructive and it is good to hear an alarm bell when danger may be forth-coming."

"Buccaneers left Mauritius in the early 19th century; let us please do the needful for them not to come back. There will hopefully be good, very good people wanting to enjoy the status of “foreign lawyer” in Mauritius but also some bad, very bad black sheep. We need strong parameters."

The report went on to observe that:

"It took a lot of hard work and patience to build up a quality offshore sector, we cannot allow it to be tarnished by some black sheep through lack of control."