Statistics Act

Jurisdiction: Mauritius
Citation: Act 38 of 2000
Date: 30 June 2017
Language: English
Type: Legislation
Download: Download PDF (270.3 KB)

Mauritius

Statistics Act

Act 38 of 2000

Commenced on 2 April 2001
[This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Statistics Act.

2. Interpretation

In this Act—"authorised officer" means a person appointed as such under section 6;"Bank of Mauritius" means the Bank of Mauritius established under section 3 of the Bank of Mauritius Act;"Board" or "Statistics Board" means the Statistics Board referred to in section 23;"census" means a census of population and dwellings;"contractor" means a person appointed under contract for carrying out, on behalf of the Director, duties relating to the collection, compilation, analysis, abstraction, publication, and dissemination of statistical information;"Director" means the Director of Statistics referred to in section 4;"member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairperson;"Minister" means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of statistics is assigned;"official statistics" means statistics produced by—(a)Statistics Mauritius;(b)the Bank of Mauritius;(c)the Ministry responsible for the subject of health; and(d)such other organisation as may be approved by the Board;"public sector agency" means any Ministry or Government Department, local authority, or statutory body;"respondent" means a person who supplies, or is required to supply, statistical information;"return" means a book, document, form, card, tape, disc or storage medium on which the information required is entered or recorded, or is required to be entered or recorded, for statistical purposes;"sampling" means a statistical procedure whereby only a small proportion of the entire group is selected and its characteristics are statistically analysed to infer knowledge about the entire group;"statistics" means aggregated numerical information relating to demographic, economic, financial, environmental, social or similar matter, which is compiled and analysed according to relevant scientific and statistical methodology;"survey" includes a survey of undertakings or persons, whereby information is collected from all persons in a field of inquiry, or from a sample of them, wholly or primarily for statistical purposes;"undertaking" means an undertaking by way of a trade or business, whether or not the trade or business is carried out for profit, and includes a public sector agency and any other form of organisation or body of persons, as well as a branch of an undertaking;"University of Mauritius" means the University of Mauritius referred to in section 3 of the University of Mauritius Act.[S. 2 amended by s. 28 (a) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

3. Statistics Mauritius

(1)The Central Statistics Office which, before the commencement of this section, was the Department of Government which was the central depository for all statistics produced in Mauritius shall, at the commencement of this section, continue to be a Department of Government and shall be known as Statistics Mauritius.

(2)Statistics Mauritius shall constitute the central statistical authority and depository of all officials statistics produced in Mauritius and, as such, shall collect, compile, analyse and disseminate accurate, relevant, timely and high-quality statistics and related information on social, demographic, economic and financial activities to serve the needs of public and private users.

[S. 3 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (b) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

4. Director of Statistics

(1)There shall be a chief executive officer of Statistics Mauritius who shall be known as the Director of Statistics.

(2)The Director shall be responsible for the administration and control of Statistics Mauritius.

(3)In the discharge of his functions and the exercise of his powers under this Act, the Director shall act without fear or favour and shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority other than, in matters of discipline, the Public Service Commission.

[S. 4 amended by s. 28 (c) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

5. Functions and powers of Director

(1)Subject to this Act, the Director—

(a)may take a census in Mauritius;

(b)may collect, compile, analyse, abstract, publish and otherwise disseminate statistics relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, agricultural, social, demographic, and economic activities, and general conditions, of the people of Mauritius as specified in the First Schedule;

(c)shall coordinate and monitor statistical activities of all producers of official statistics, including public sector agencies, to—

(i)ensure that approved statistical standards and procedures are applied;

(ii)ensure that standard concepts, definitions classifications are used to enhance harmonisation and comparability of statistics; and

(iii)minimise unnecessary overlapping and duplication in the collection and publication of statistical information;

(d)shall collaborate with Ministries and Government Departments in the collection, compilation, analysis, publication and dissemination of statistical information, including statistics derived from the activities of those Ministries and Departments;

(e)shall generally organise a coordinated scheme of social and economic statistics, and statistics of sustainable development, relating to Mauritius

(f)may conduct voluntary pilot surveys to test questionnaires and statistical procedures;

(g)shall ensure the independence, accuracy, relevance, integrity, timeliness, and professional standard of statistical information produced by Statistics Mauritius;

(h)shall ensure the security and confidentiality of information collected under this Act;

(i)shall determine and exercise final responsibility for the discontinuance of a statistical collection of Statistics Mauritius;

(j)may determine the pricing policy of statistical products and services supplied by Statistics Mauritius;

(k)shall cause the statistics collected under this Act to be compiled, tabulated, and analysed and, subject to this Act, may cause the statistical information or abstracts of them to be published and disseminated, with or without observations, in such manner and by such media as he may determine;

(l)shall develop and maintain registers or lists which may be of use in producing statistics;

(m)shall facilitate the correct interpretation of statistics produced by Statistics Mauritius by presenting information on sources, methods and procedures of statistics in a transparent manner;

(n)shall convene meetings of users of official statistics to review user needs for such statistics;

(o)may hold other meetings and set up committees of statisticians, suppliers or users of statistics and other interested parties, for the purposes of this Act or for general educational purposes, on his own initiative or on request;

(p)may comment on erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics;

(q)shall seek to ensure appropriate public-awareness of statistical collections and activities of Statistics Mauritius;

(r)shall be the focal point of contact with international agencies on statistical matters;

(s)shall, with the approval of the Board, publish a Code of Practice for Official Statistics which shall be based on the values of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics, and any other internationally accepted principles relating to statistics;

(t)shall, at the request of the Board, assess and determine whether the Code of Practice for Official Statistics has been complied with in relation to any official statistics;

(u)shall, with the approval of the Board, publish, not later than 3 months after the end of every year, a list of official statistics; and

(v)shall ensure that an assessment of the quality of official statistics is carried out by an independent and competent body at least once every 3 years.

(2)The Director shall make the arrangements for, and do, all the things necessary for the performance of his duties under this Act, and may for that matter retain the services of an independent contractor.

(3)The Director shall have the sole responsibility for deciding—

(a)the procedure and method to be employed in the provision of; and

(b)the extent, form, and timing of publication and dissemination of, any statistics produced or to be produced by Statistics Mauritius.

(4)The Director shall, for the purposes of this Act, set up an electronic system to receive, process and analyse statistical information and to disseminate the required statistics.

[S. 5 amended by s. 28 (d) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

6. Authorised officer

(1)There shall be such number of officers as may be determined by the Director, to be known as "authorised officers", who shall be public officers appointed to assist the Director in the performance of his duties.

(2)A contractor or his employee or agent shall be treated as an authorised officer if he is performing duties under this Act.

7. ***

[S. 7 repealed by s. 28 (e) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

8. Joint collections

(1)The Director may agree with a public sector agency, in relation to information that the public sector agency has authority to collect, that the information be collected jointly by Statistics Mauritius and the public sector agency, and that the information be exchanged between the agreeing parties, provided that—

(a)

(i)the respondent shall, by notice in writing, be informed that the information is being collected jointly by Statistics Mauritius with a public sector agency; and

(ii)the notice shall state the purposes for which the information is collected; and

(b)the agreement shall be of no effect in relation to a respondent who gives notice in writing to the Director that he objects to the sharing of information by the parties to the joint collection.

(2)Where an employee of a public sector agency engages in the joint collection of information or the processing of information collected in the joint collection, he shall make a declaration of confidentiality similar to the declaration of confidentiality prescribed by section 22, in addition to any declaration of secrecy required under any other enactment.

[S. 8 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (f) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

9. Direction for taking of a census

(1)The President may, subject to the approval by resolution of the Assembly, by Order, direct that a census shall be taken for Mauritius, or any part of it, or any class of inhabitant, and the Order may specify—

(a)the date or dates on or between which the census shall be taken; and

(b)subject to subsection (2), the information to be obtained in the census.

(2)The Director shall not take a census until regulations have been made by the President prescribing—

(a)the particulars and information to be furnished on the taking of the census; and

(b)the manner and form in which, the times and places at which, and the persons by whom, the particulars and information shall be furnished.

(3)Regulations made under subsection (2) may provide that any person who contravenes them shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 20,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

10. Collection of other statistical information

(1)On the recommendation of the Board, the Director may, from time to time, collect in Mauritius or any part of it, whether in conjunction with a census or not, statistical information relating to all or any of the matters set out in the First Schedule, other than the census referred to in section 9.

(2)The particulars and information to be furnished in relation to any matter in respect of which the statistical information is to be collected under subsection (1) and the frequency of the collection shall be subject to the prior approval of the Board.

[S. 10 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (g) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

11. Sampling

(1)Statistical information relating to the matters specified in the First Schedule may be collected by sampling, in place of a full enumeration, where the use of that method is considered appropriate.

(2)Sampling may also be used to test a questionnaire and a statistical procedure before finalisation.

(3)It shall not be a defence for a person who has failed to fill in a return, or to answer an inquiry, to aver that only a portion of a particular group of persons is required to fill in the return, or to answer the inquiry.

[S. 11 amended by s. 28 (h) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

12. Limitation on right to require information

No person shall be required to supply any information under this Act which involves the disclosure of a technical process or trade secret in or relating to the undertaking of which he is the owner, or in the conduct or supervision of which he is engaged.

13. Power to obtain information and other particulars

(1)Notwithstanding any other enactment but subject to this Act, the Director may, in relation to any of the matters specified in the First Schedule—

(a)by notice in writing, require a person to furnish, in such form and manner and within such time as may be specified in the notice, such information, estimates, return or particulars as may be required;

(b)by interviewing a person, require the person to furnish such information and particulars as may be lawfully required; and

(c)by notice in writing, require a person to fill in a form attached to the notice and to return it in such manner and within such time as may be specified in the notice.

(2)A notice under subsection (1)—

(a)may be served by delivering it to the person to whom it is addressed or by sending it electronically or by electronic mail, facsimile or registered post to the last known address of the person; and

(b)shall include a general statement of the purpose for which the information, estimate, return, or particulars is required.

(3)Where any information, estimate, return, or particulars is required of a person by a notice purporting to be issued by the Director, it shall, in any legal proceedings relating to the information, estimate, return, particulars or notice, be presumed—

(a)that the information, estimate, return or particulars may lawfully be required of that person under this Act; and

(b)that the notice was duly served in accordance with subsection (2)(a), unless the contrary is proved.

(4)The Director shall—

(a)by notification in the Gazette and in 2 daily newspapers in wide circulation in Mauritius; or

(b)where he is satisfied that local conditions so require, in such other manner as may appear to him to be most suitable for the notification in the area or areas concerned,

publish a list of the classes or descriptions of undertakings in relation to which any information, estimate, return or particulars is required and the date by which such information, estimate, return or particulars shall be furnished.

(5)Any person who has in his possession any information, estimate, return or particulars which is referred to in a notification under subsection (4) shall, not later than the date specified in the notification, furnish the required information, estimate, return or particulars to the Director.

(6)Where, in the opinion of the Director, statistical information generated, whether electronically or otherwise, by an undertaking which is required to provide such information gives a suitable database for the compilation of appropriate official statistics, the Director shall direct the undertaking to provide the statistical information to Statistics Mauritius.

(7)

(a)Every public sector agency which sets up or changes its computer system to cater for its activities shall, before it sets up or changes the computer system, notify the Director of such event, where the computer system is, or is likely to be, used to collect or produce information or data which Statistics Mauritius requires for the purposes of this Act.

(b)On receipt of a notification under paragraph (a), the Director shall inform the public sector agency of the requirements of Statistics Mauritius to enable it to discharge, or assist it in discharging, its functions under the Act, and the public sector agency shall, as far as practicable, take into account those requirements when setting up or changing the computer system.

(8)Every public sector agency, which provides statistics in relation to its activities to the Director for the purposes of the integration of the statistics into official statistics, shall—

(a)ensure that the statistics are in conformity with the standards, classifications and procedures determined by Statistics Mauritius; and

(b)provide the Director with the administrative datasets and copies of the report on the compiled statistics, within one month of the date of its publication.

(9)

(a)The Director may, with the agreement of a public sector agency, post his staff at the agency to advise and assist in the production of quality statistics.

(b)Any staff posted under paragraph (a) shall continue to be under the administrative control of the Director.

[S. 13 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (i) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

13A. Obligation to disclose information

(1)Notwithstanding—

(a)section 155 of the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, a specified person under that Act;

(b)section 8(2) of the Value Added Tax Act, an officer under that Act,

shall, subject to subsection (2), comply with a request of the Director under section 13.

(2)A specified person or an officer, as the case may be, referred to in subsection (1), shall not disclose the name of an individual.

[S. 13A inserted by s. 28 (j) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

14. Access to public and other records

(1)Where the Board has given its approval to, or directed, the collection of statistical information relating to any matter, and where the Director is of opinion that there can be obtained from records of any public sector agency or other person, information sought in respect of the matter in relation to which the collection of statistical information has been approved, or directed, or information which would aid in the completion or correction of the statistical information, any person who has the custody of any of the records shall grant access to them to the Director or an authorised officer for the obtaining from them of the information.

(2)Notwithstanding any other enactment but subject to section 26 of the Bank of Mauritius Act, section 64 of the Banking Act, section 154 of the Income Tax Act and section 13A, the Director shall, for the purposes of this Act, have access to—

(a)any return, certificate, statement, document or other record obtained by or for any public sector agency in respect of any matter set out in the First Schedule;

(b)any system including electronic system of a public sector agency to ensure more efficient public use of the data collected for administrative purposes.

[S. 14 amended by s. 28 (k) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

15. Offences

(1)Any person, being a person employed in the execution of a duty under this Act, who—

(a)deserts his duty, or wilfully makes a false declaration, statement or return in the performance of his duty, or compiles for issue any false statistics or information;

(b)in the pretended performance of his duty, obtains, or seeks to obtain, information that the person is not duly authorised to obtain;

(c)by virtue of his employment, becomes possessed of any information which might exert an influence upon, or affect the market value of, any share, interest, product or article, and before such information is made public, directly or indirectly uses such information for personal gain;

(d)without lawful authority, publishes or communicates to any person otherwise than in the ordinary course of such employment, any information acquired by him in the course of his employment; or

(e)asks, receives, or takes, in respect of, or in connection with, his employment under this Act from any person, other than a public officer duly authorised to grant it, any payment or reward,

shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(2)Any person, being in possession of any information which to his knowledge has been disclosed in contravention of this Act, who publishes or communicates such information to any other person shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(3)Any person who—

(a)hinders or obstructs an authorised officer in the execution of his powers under this Act;

(b)refuses or neglects—

(i)to fill up and supply the particulars required in a return, form, or other document, lawfully left with or sent to him; or

(ii)to answer a question or inquiry under this Act;

(c)knowingly makes in any return, form or other document filled up or supplied under this Act, in an answer to a question or inquiry under this Act, a statement which is untrue in any material particular;

(d)without lawful authority, destroys, defaces or mutilates a return, form or other document containing particulars collected under this Act;

(e)not being an authorised officer, assumes the quality of, or represents himself to be, an authorised officer, with intent to—

(i)obtain admission on any premises which he is not entitled to enter; or

(ii)do, or procure to be done, anything which he is not entitled to do or procure to be done;

(f)refuses without reasonable cause to grant access to records and documents in accordance with section 14; or

(g)contravenes this Act,

shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 20,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, and in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine not exceeding 1,000 rupees for every day during which the offence continues.

16. Limitation period

A prosecution may not be instituted later than 2 years after the time when the subject matter of the prosecution arose, or 2 years after the time when the commission of the offence first became known to the prosecutor.

17. Restriction on disclosure of information

(1)Subject to subsection (2), and except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act—

(a)no individual return made for the purposes of this Act;

(b)no answer given to a question put for the purposes of this Act; and

(c)no report, abstract or other document, containing particulars comprised in the return or answer so arranged as to enable identification of the particulars with any person, undertaking or business,

shall be published, admitted in evidence, disclosed to a Ministry or Government Department, or shown to a person not employed in the execution of a duty under this Act, unless the previous consent in writing has been obtained from the person making the return or giving the answer, or, in the case of an undertaking or business, from the owner for the time being of the undertaking or business.

(2)Nothing in this section shall prevent or restrict the publication of a report, abstract or other document without such consent, where the particulars in the report, abstract or other document enable identification merely by reason of the fact that the particulars relate to an undertaking or business which is the only undertaking or business within its particular sphere of activities, but in no case shall the particulars enable identification of the costs of production, the capital employed or profits arising in any such undertaking or business.

18. Disclosure and dissemination of information

(1)Statistics Mauritius shall, with respect to official statistics it produces—

(a)provide updated information on the methods and procedures used to compile its official statistics;

(b)issue a data dissemination policy to be made publicly available; and

(c)provide data products and services on payment of such fees as may be prescribed.

(2)Notwithstanding section 17, the Director may disclose—

(a)information available to the public under an enactment or a public document;

(b)information in the form of an index or list of the names and addresses of individual undertakings or businesses, together with the telephone numbers at which they may be reached, in relation to statistical matters, the industrial classifications allotted to them, the products they produce, manufacture, process, transport, store, purchase or sell, or the services they provide, in the course of their business, and the number of persons engaged;

(c)details of external trade, movement of ships and aircraft, and cargo handled at ports; or

(d)information relating to a local authority or other statutory body.

[S. 18 amended by s. 28 (l) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

19. Disclosure for research or statistical purposes

(1)Subject to this section, the Director may disclose information in the form of individual statistical records solely for bona fide research or statistical purposes provided that—

(a)all identifying information, such as names and addresses, has been removed; and

(b)the information is disclosed in a manner that is not likely to enable the identification of the particular person or undertaking or business to which it relates.

(2)Every person to whom any statistical records are disclosed pursuant to this section shall—

(a)not attempt to identify a particular person or undertaking or business;

(b)use the information for research or statistical purposes only;

(c)not disclose the information to any other person or organisation;

(d)when required by the Director, return all documents made available to him to the Director; and

(e)comply with any directions given by the Director relating to the records.

(3)—

[S. 19 amended by s. 28 (m) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

20. Security of recorded information

Where the statistical information, which the Director collects under this Act from individual returns, worksheets, or any other confidential source, is to be copied or recorded by means of cards, tapes, discs, wires, films, or any other method, whether using encoded or plain language symbols for the processing, storage, or reproduction of particulars, the Director shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure the security and confidentiality of the statistical information.

21. Destruction of individual forms and returns

The Director shall account for, cause to be recycled or destroyed and destroy under strict supervision, all individual census and survey forms and returns used for the purposes of this Act, and containing the name and address of a person or undertaking or business, after the data have been processed and validated, but not later than 5 years after the date of completion of a census or survey.[S. 21 amended by s. 28 (n) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

22. Confidentiality

(1)Before performing any function under this Act—

(a)every employee of a public sector agency shall, where he is engaged in the joint collection of information or the processing of information collected in the joint collection;

(b)every person involved in the research or statistical project for which information is disclosed pursuant to section 19; and

(c)—

(d)every authorised officer,

shall make a declaration of confidentiality in the form set out in the Second Schedule or, where the person is abroad, in such form and manner as the Director may approve.

(2)Before performing any function under this Act or any regulations made under the Act, every member, every co-opted person under section 23(3)(b), every member of a committee set up under section 24(2) and the Director shall take an oath of confidentiality in the form set out in the Third Schedule.

(3)Subject to subsection (4), every person referred to in subsections (1) and (2) who has access to the records of Statistics Mauritius shall maintain, during and after his period of service in Statistics Mauritius, the confidentiality of any matter relating to this Act and to any regulations made under this Act which comes to his knowledge.

(4)No person referred to in subsections (1) and (2) shall communicate to any other person any matter relating to this Act and to any regulations made under this Act which comes to his knowledge in the performance of his functions except—

(a)for the purposes of administering this Act; or

(b)where he otherwise complies with the provisions of this Act.

(5)Any person who contravenes this section shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(6)In this section—"abroad" includes Rodrigues, Agalega and any other island comprised in the State of Mauritius.

[S. 22 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (o) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011; amended by s. 51 of Act 10 of 2017 w.e.f. 24 July 2017.]

23. The Board

(1)There shall be, for the purposes of this Act, a board which shall be known as the Statistics Board.

(2)The Board shall consist of—

(a)a Chairperson, suitably qualified and experienced in the field of statistics, economics, social sciences, finance, management or related fields, appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister tendered after the Prime Minister has consulted the Leader of the Opposition, on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Prime Minister;

(b)the Financial Secretary or his representative;

(c)a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Mauritius or his representative;

(d)a representative of the private sector, appointed by the Minister on the advice of the Joint Economic Council;

(e)a qualified and suitable person having international experience on official statistics, appointed by the Minister;

(f)the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius or his representative; and

(g)the Director.

(3)

(a)The members referred to in subsection (2)(d) and (e) shall be appointed by the Minister on such terms and conditions as he may determine.

(b)The Board may co-opt such other person as may be of assistance in relation to any matter before the Board.

(4)Any person co-opted under subsection (3)(b) shall have no right to vote on any matter before the Board.

(5)Every member shall be paid such fees as may be approved by the Minister.

(6)In the discharge of its functions and the exercise of its powers under this Act, the Board shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

(7)The President shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, at any time, terminate the appointment of the Chairperson—

(a)on grounds of any misconduct, default, or breach of trust in the discharge of his functions; or

(b)where he is subject to proceedings of such nature as to render desirable the termination of his appointment.

[S. 23 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (p) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

24. Functions of Board

(1)The functions of the Board shall be to—

(a)approve, coordinate, and monitor statistical programmes of producers of official statistics in order to achieve consistency and efficiency, facilitate integration and promote comparability of data from different sources, avoid duplication, minimise respondent burden, and improve design of data collection and analysis;

(b)advise any producer of statistics on the policy, procedures and regulations relating to the development of official statistics;

(c)promote and safeguard the quality of official statistics, particularly in relation to their relevance, impartiality, accuracy and timeliness and their coherence;

(d)promote adherence to good practice including accessibility and international recommendations and standards, in particular, the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics and any other internationally accepted principles relating to statistics;

(e)promote and protect the integrity of official statistics, including professional independence; and

(f)do every act or thing that is required to be done by the Board under this Act.

(2)The Board may set up one or more committees and may delegate such of its functions under this Act to any committee or the Director as may be necessary to assist the Board in the discharge of its functions.

[S. 24 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (p) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

25. Meetings of Board

(1)The Board shall meet as often as is necessary but at least once every quarter and at such time and place as the Chairperson may determine.

(2)In the absence of the Chairperson at a meeting of the Board, the members present shall elect a member to act as Chairperson for that meeting.

(3)At any meeting of the Board, 4 members shall constitute a quorum.

(4)Subject to this section, the Board shall regulate its meetings in such manner as it thinks fit.

(5)The Director shall provide the Board with such resources as are necessary for the effective performance of its functions.

[S. 25 repealed and replaced by s. 28 (p) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

26. ***

[S. 26 repealed by s. 28 (q) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

27. ***

[S. 27 repealed by s. 28 (q) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

28. Regulations

(1)The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this Act, and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of that power, may make regulations—

(a)—

(b)—

(c)for the levying of charges and the taking of fees; and

(d)amending the Schedules.

(2)Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide that any person who contravenes them shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 20,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

[S. 28 amended by s. 28 (r) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

28A. Saving

A reference in any enactment to the Central Statistics Office shall, at the commencement of this Act, be construed as a reference to Statistics Mauritius under this Act.[S. 28A inserted by s. 28 (s) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

29. ***

30. ***

First Schedule (Sections 5, 10, 11, 13 and 14)

1.Population, vital occurrences, and other demographic and social matters, including welfare and social protection

2.Buildings, dwellings, and housing conditions

3.Internal and external migration

4.Health, quality of life, nutrition, and morbidity

5.Education, cultural and religious participation, sports, and recreation

6.Good governance, law and order, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, prevention of terrorism financing and other crimes

7.Environment and climate change

8.Labour, employment and unemployment, conditions of work, hours of work, salaries, wages, bonuses, fees, allowances and any other direct or indirect emoluments

9.Incomes, earnings, profits, interests, and other emoluments, expenditure and taxation

10.Industrial disturbances and labour disputes

11.Occupational health and safety

12.Household including family characteristics, conditions, and activities

13.Small and medium industries, informal economic activities

14.Land tenure, occupation and use of land, condition of land, transfers of land, mortgages or privileges on land, leases of land

15.Assets including savings, liabilities and wealth of persons and undertakings, prices of property

16.Prices of commodities and services at any or all transaction levels, rents, cost of living

17.Internal and external trade, visible and invisible, financial transactions with other countries, global business and freeport activities

18.Internal and international travel and tourism

19.Economic, financial, production, manufacturing, consumption, sales, investment, stocks and other matters relating to undertakings including Ministries and Government Departments, local authorities and other statutory bodies

20.Agriculture including dairying, horticulture, pastoral and allied industries, hunting, forestry, fishing

21.Mines, quarries, wells and bore holes

22.Manufacturing

23.Construction

24.Energy and water

25.Wholesale and retail trade including agents and brokers, restaurants, hotels and accommodation, catering

26.Transportation, storage, warehousing, and communications

27.Finance, insurance, real estate, and business services

28.Community, social, welfare, religious and personal services

29.Gambling and lotteries

30.Local government

31.Transactions and financial positions with other countries and institutions abroad

32.Benevolent, charitable, and other public collections of money

33.Government and public finance

34.Gender

[First Sch. amended by s. 28 (t) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

Second Schedule (Section 22 (1))

Declaration of confidentiality

I, ________________________________, being appointed __________________________________ do hereby declare that I shall maintain during or after my relationship with Statistics Mauritius the confidentiality of any matter relating to the Statistics Act and any regulations made under that Act which comes to my knowledge and shall not, on any account and, at any time, disclose directly or indirectly to any person, any matter or information relating to the affairs of Statistics Mauritius otherwise than for the purposes of the performance of my functions or the exercise of my powers under the Statistics Act and any regulations made under that Act.Signature of declarant ____________________Made before me this ____________________Signature ____________________Name ____________________Director[Second Sch. repealed and replaced by s. 28 (u) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

Third Schedule (Section 22 (2))

Oath of confidentiality

I __________________________________, being appointed _________________________________ do hereby swear/solemnly affirm/declare that I shall maintain during or after my relationship with Statistics Mauritius the confidentiality of any matter relating to the Statistics Act and any regulations made under that Act which comes to my knowledge and shall not, on any account and, at any time, disclose directly or indirectly to any person, any matter or information relating to the affairs of Statistics Mauritius, otherwise than for the purposes of the performance of my functions or the exercise of my powers under the Statistics Act and any regulations made under that Act.Sworn/solemnly affirmed/declared by the abovenamed before me at _____________ this _________ day of ___________Before me ________________________District Magistrate[Third Sch. repealed and replaced by s. 28 (u) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]

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History of this document

30 June 2017 this version

Consolidation

02 April 2001

Commenced