Global Legal Monitor
International: International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Confirms Sovereignty of Mauritius over Chagos Archipelago
(Feb. 23, 2021) On January 28, 2021, in its Judgment on Preliminary Objections in the Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rejected the Maldives’ challenges to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The judgment was rendered by the Special Chamber instituted by the Special Agreement and Notification concluded between Mauritius and the Maldives in 2019 in accordance with article 15, paragraph 2 of the Statute of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Among its various preliminary objections, the Maldives had challenged the jurisdiction of the Special Chamber, arguing (1) that the United Kingdom (U.K.) was an indispensable third party to the dispute and (2) that sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disp
Will there always be a .io? One reader asked for a guarantee
There have been some solid .io sales this year and it prompted one reader to ask me if there was a guarantee that .io would always be in existence? They want to jump in but are concerned by an article that I wrote.
A guarantee? No. Since the 2014 article on GigaOm came out about the plight of the Chagossians and the dark side of .io much has come to light.
Back in 2014 GigaOM published a story on the .io extension, the country code for the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The UK’s “colonial approach” to the Chagos Islands may yet damage hopes that a British QC will be appointed chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in succession to Fatou Bensouda. Karim Khan is the current favourite for the position. But the UK’s refusal to recognise two adverse international court judgements on the ownership of the Chagos Islands, a British claimed territory in the Indian Ocean, has stymied plans for consensus to.
UK dismisses UN Maritime Court ruling that it has no claim to Chagos Islands/Diego Garcia
Britain, with customary imperial arrogance, has again dismissed a United Nations court decision that it has no entitlement to the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
On January 27, the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), in the latest round in a protracted legal battle, ruled that the UK has no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, which includes Diego Garcia, home to one of the US’s largest airbases.
Map of Chagos Islands
It follows a similar decision in 2019 when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an “advisory” opinion, ruled that Britain’s separation of islands in 1965 from Mauritius before it became independent in 1968 and their incorporation into the specially created British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT), violated 1960 UN resolution 1514 banning the breakup of colonies before independence.
Foreign Office maintains deafening silence on Chagos Islands despite UN ruling Tuesday, 02 February 2021 5:56 PM
[ Last Update: Tuesday, 02 February 2021 6:51 PM ] The 3,000 plus Chagos islanders living in Britain are at the forefront of applying pressure on the UK to submit to the will of the international community by ending its occupation of their homeland
Five days after a legal body of the United Nations dismissed British claims of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, the Foreign Office continues to avoid meaningful engagement on the issue.
The United Nation’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled on January 28 that Mauritius has sole sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, thus delivering a fatal blow to the UK’s weak legal position.