Eddy Balancy

Eddy Balancy was born in Mauritius on May 6, 1953. His professional curriculum vitae, published under the fuller name Marc France Eddy Balancy, records his secondary education at Royal College, Port Louis, from 1965 to 1972. His studies included English, French, Latin and Greek. He became a laureate of the British Scholarship, ranked second on the classical side, securing an opportunity to continue his education in Britain. ^[1]

Between 1973 and 1976, Balancy studied law at King's College, University of London, graduating with an honours Bachelor of Laws degree. He subsequently attended Brunel University during 1977 and 1978, undertaking postgraduate study in sociology and law. His curriculum vitae identifies this qualification as an MA in Sociology and Law. The two courses gave him both an undergraduate grounding in legal subjects and postgraduate exposure to the relationship between law and society. ^[1]

Balancy also completed professional training through the Council of Legal Education in London. He passed the Bar Finals and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in mid-1978. His preparation for practice therefore combined university qualifications with vocational instruction for barristers. These educational milestones provide the starting point for an Eddy Balancy biography: schooling in Mauritius, legal studies in Britain and professional qualification before his subsequent career in the Mauritian courts. ^[1]

Balancy's judicial career included service as a magistrate in Rose-Hill, Rodrigues and Port Louis. Those postings preceded his appointment to the Supreme Court of Mauritius on January 7, 1994. Reporting on his later promotion to Chief Justice recalled his experience in these different courts. His route to the senior judiciary thus included work outside the Supreme Court, including service in Rodrigues as well as on the main island of Mauritius. ^[2]

The Supreme Court responsibilities described in his professional curriculum vitae covered both first-instance proceedings and appeals. His first-instance work included constitutional and administrative law, with cases involving human rights. His appellate duties extended to civil and criminal matters. He therefore worked across several branches of law, hearing disputes about public authority as well as civil litigation and criminal cases brought before the court on appeal. ^[1]

In January 2014, Balancy became Senior Puisne Judge, the position immediately below Chief Justice in the Mauritian judicial hierarchy. By that point, he had spent two decades on the Supreme Court. Another five years in this senior position preceded his appointment as Chief Justice in 2019. The chronology is significant: his eventual leadership of the judiciary followed extensive experience both deciding cases and serving in its second-ranking office. ^[2]

Alongside deciding cases, Balancy wrote about the practical operation of Mauritian criminal law. His curriculum vitae lists three books: The Information, The Law of Conspiracy in Mauritius, and Basic Criminal Procedure and Evidence for Prosecutors. Their subjects concern criminal proceedings, conspiracy law, and the procedural and evidential work of prosecution. These publications form a distinct part of his professional record, separate from the judgments he delivered as a member of the judiciary. ^[1]

Teaching brought him into contact with lawyers preparing to enter practice. Balancy reported conducting occasional courses in criminal procedure and advocacy for vocational legal examinations, as well as induction courses for new barristers. He also represented Mauritius at international conferences concerning the judicial function, including the rule of law and human rights. These activities appear in the curriculum vitae published by the United Nations human rights office for the 2016 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights election process. ^[1]

His interest in professional learning continued after he became Chief Justice. In April 2019, he opened a residential seminar for judges at the Ravenala Attitude hotel devoted to improving judgment writing. Contemporary reporting described his encouragement of collective discussion, reflection and continuing improvement. The seminar addressed the work of experienced judges, not merely the preparation of newcomers, and treated judicial writing as a professional skill that could benefit from shared examination and further training. ^[4]

On March 26, 2019, Balancy was sworn in as Chief Justice at State House, Le Reduit, succeeding Kheshoe Parsad Matadeen. The government announcement recorded that the appointment was made under section 77(1) of the Constitution of Mauritius. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and other dignitaries attended the ceremony. After years of hearing cases and serving as Senior Puisne Judge, Balancy now held the office at the head of the country's judiciary. ^[2][3]

Speaking to the press after the ceremony, he outlined an agenda concerned with court procedure and the efficient use of time. He proposed practical measures to simplify proceedings and address unsatisfactory practices within the judicial system. The official account named the Supreme Court, District Courts, Industrial Courts, and Bail and Remand Courts. His stated concerns therefore extended beyond the Supreme Court to institutions handling different kinds of disputes and criminal proceedings. ^[3]

Balancy presented these measures as ways to make justice more effective and equitable. The emphasis was administrative as well as legal: how courts conducted their business mattered alongside the rules they applied. His April seminar on judgment writing addressed a related concern, the quality of the decisions delivered at the end of proceedings. These records document his priorities and an identifiable training initiative, although they do not supply a comprehensive measurement of changes in court delays or costs during his tenure. ^[3][4]

A vacancy at State House gave Balancy another national responsibility later in 2019. On November 26, acting president Barlen Vyapoory resigned. Contemporary Mauritian reporting identified the Chief Justice as the official who would assume presidential responsibilities on an interim basis while a new president was selected. Balancy's appointment arose from the constitutional succession arrangements attached to his judicial office, rather than from a separate popular election campaign. ^[5]

His service as acting president lasted until December 2, 2019, when Prithvirajsing Roopun was elected president by the National Assembly and sworn into office. The same transition brought Marie Cyril Eddy Boissezon to the vice-presidency. The government account records the parliamentary selection and the subsequent swearing-in ceremony at State House. Balancy's interval as head of state occupied the short period between Vyapoory's departure and the installation of the new president. ^[5][6]

The acting presidency explains why Balancy appears in accounts of Mauritius's heads of state as well as its judiciary. It was nevertheless different in duration and character from his judicial career. He exercised presidential responsibilities temporarily during a vacancy, while his substantive appointment remained that of Chief Justice. His decades on the Supreme Court, rather than this brief constitutional assignment, account for the greater part of his documented public service. ^[1][2][5][6]

Balancy retired as Chief Justice on May 5, 2020, the day before his sixty-seventh birthday. His departure came during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions affecting ordinary court business. Reporting on his final day described a Supreme Court proceeding conducted through Webex. Remote participation was therefore part of the circumstances in which his judicial service ended, as courts adapted their working arrangements to the public-health emergency. ^[7]

Just over a year separated his formal swearing-in at State House from this unusually constrained conclusion to his tenure. Contemporary coverage of his retirement looked back at his years in the judiciary while also recording the practical difficulties of the pandemic period. The online proceeding was a concrete example of adaptation at the Supreme Court. It should not be confused with evidence that the entire court system had already completed a permanent transition to digital hearings. ^[3][7][8]

In comments reported shortly after retirement, Balancy identified professional education and legal writing as activities he wanted to pursue. He discussed articles, journals and books, including new editions of his three existing works. These were plans announced at the beginning of retirement, rather than a list of projects already completed. They continued interests established during his working life: teaching practitioners, explaining criminal procedure and considering how judges could improve their written decisions. ^[1][8]

Balancy's documented achievements include reaching the highest judicial office in Mauritius, writing three legal books and contributing to professional education. His period as Chief Justice was relatively short, but it followed Supreme Court service beginning in 1994. An assessment limited to his final appointment would therefore overlook most of his judicial career, including his work in constitutional and administrative law and his responsibilities in civil and criminal appeals. ^[1][2][7]

Several concerns recur in his public record. At his appointment as Chief Justice, he discussed efficiency and procedure. At the judges' seminar, he encouraged better judgment writing. At retirement, he returned to teaching and legal publication. These activities show sustained attention to the practical work of the profession, from the training of barristers to the reasoning set out by judges. They also provide firmer grounds for evaluating his contribution than general claims about transforming the whole justice system. ^[1][3][4][8]

His brief acting presidency adds another clearly documented responsibility: maintaining the exercise of head-of-state functions during the November 2019 vacancy. Taken together, his judicial appointments, publications, teaching and interim constitutional service describe a career with several distinct forms of public work. His legacy rests on that record, while the longer-term effects of his administrative proposals require a separate assessment from the ambitions he expressed when taking office. ^[1][3][5][6]