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This book explores the application of international law to the Chagos Islanders, exiled following the creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

The Chagos Islanders and International Law

Introduction

I. Background

II. The Chagos Islanders and International Law

1. The Chagossian Litigation in the English Courts

I. Introduction

II. Background

III. UK Public Law

IV. Bancoult 1

V. The Chagos Islanders Case

VI. Withdrawing the Public Law Right of Abode

VII. Bancoult 2: The House of Lords' Judgment 18A. Constitutional Review and Fundamental Rights

B. Rationality

C. Legitimate Expectations

VIII. International Law Perspectives

IX. International Law and National Law 31A. Theoretical Approaches: Dualism and Monism

B. International Law and English Law

C. The Fitzmaurice Compromise

X. Conclusion

2. The Chagos Islanders and the European Convention on Human Rights: Extra-territoriality and the Concept of State Jurisdiction

I. Introduction

II. State Jurisdiction and Article 1 of the European Convention

III. Al-Skeini and the Relationship between Article 1 and Article 56 ECHR

IV. The Chagos Islanders v UK Case

V. The Governance of British Overseas Territories

VI. The Personal and Spatial Modes of State Jurisdiction

VII. Dividing and Tailoring Convention Obligations in the Extra-territorial Context

VIII. The Normative Foundations of the Convention's Extra-territorial Application

IX. Constituent and Legislative Authority in British Overseas Territories

X. Subordinate Legislative Authority

XI. The Object and Purpose of Article 63/56 of the European Convention

XII. Conclusion

3. Detaching the Chagos Islands from Mauritius: The 1965 Mauritian Constitutional Conference and the Making of the Lancaster House Agreement

I. Introduction

II. Colonial Acquisition in the Mauritian Context

III. British Colonial Withdrawal and the Prospect of a US Military Facility on Diego Garcia

IV. The 1965 Mauritian Constitutional Conference and the Lancaster House Agreement

V. The Lancaster House Agreement

VI. Assessing the Relationship between the Detachment of the Chagos Islands and Mauritian Independence

VII. Conclusion

4. The 1965 Lancaster House Agreement and International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Doctrine and the Development of the Treaty Law

III. The Relationship between Coercion and Consent in the Conclusion of Treaties

IV. International Legal Personality, Treaty-Making Capacity and the 1965 Lancaster House Agreement 116A. International Legal Personality and Treaty-Making Authority in the Colonial Context

B. International Legal Personality and Treaty-Making Authority in the Mauritian Context

V. Coercion in the Conclusion of Treaties and Colonial Self-determination

VI. Conclusion

5. Detaching the Chagos Islands from Mauritius: The Status of Colonial Self-determination in International Law during the mid-1960s

I. Introduction

II. Legal Rules, Legal Principles and Legal Rights

III. The Rise of the Principle of Self-determination and International Law

IV. The Principle of Self-determination in the UN Charter

V. Chapter XI and Chapter XII of the UN Charter

VI. Holistic Interpretations of the Charter: Article 1 and Chapters XI and XII 144A. Self-determination and the Drafting of the UN Charter

B. Self-determination and the Concept of 'People-hood'

VII. The General Assembly: Chapter XI and the Progressive Development of the Right to Self-determination 148A. The General Assembly and the Supervision of Non-Self-Governing Territories

VIII. Non-Self-Governing Territories 152A. The Scope of the Concept of Domestic Jurisdiction

B. The Concept of Non-Self-Governing Territories

IX. The Colonial Declaration

X. General Assembly Resolution 1541(XV)(1960)

XI. Charter-based Arguments

XII. The Formation of General Customary International Law 170A. State Practice

B. Opinio Juris

XIII. Self-determination, the Colonial Declaration and Customary International Law

XIV. The ICJ and Colonial Self-determination: Formalism versus Teleology

XV. The South West Africa Cases: Substantive Law and the Formation of Customary International Law

XVI. Fitzmaurice and the Formalist Interpretation of Self-determination

XVII. 'Decolonizing the Court'

XVIII. Conclusion

6. Mauritian Claims of Sovereignty over the Chagos Islands: Mauritian Self-determination

I. Introduction

II. Colonial Self-determination in the Mauritian Context

III. The Principle of Uti Possidetis Juris

IV. Uti Possidetis Juris in the Mauritian Context

V. The Creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory

VI. The Significance of General Assembly Resolution 2066(XX) (1965) 207A. Support for Resolution 2066 from UN Members States in the General Assembly

B. The Juridical Facts of the Detachment of the Chagos Islands from Mauritius

VII. Sovereignty over the Chagos Islands: The Position of the UK Government

VIII. Sovereignty over the Chagos Islands: The Position of the Mauritian Government

IX. The Estoppel Argument

X. Non-Self-Governing Territories and the Right to Self-determination

XI. The Concept of a Non-Self-Governing Territory

XII. The Case of West New Guinea 224A. Historical Background

B. The Battles in the UN General Assembly (1954-61)

C. Dutch Resignation and the 1962 New York Agreement

D. The Administrative Argument

E. The Sovereignty Argument

F. The Ethnic/Cultural Argument

XIII. The Mayotte Question

XIV. The Significance of West New Guinea and Mayotte for BIOT's Status

XV. The Temporal Limits of Non-Self-Governing Territory Status

XVI. Non-Self-Governing Status and the BIOT

XVII. Conclusion

7. The Chagos Islanders and International Law

I. Introduction

II. The Feasibility of Resettling the Outer Chagos Islands

III. The BIOT as a Non-Self-Governing Territory

IV. Are the Chagos Islanders a 'People' for the Purpose of Exercising the Right to Self-determination in International Law?

V. Chagossian Perspective on UK Sovereign Authority in respect of the BIOT

VI. Chagossian Self-determination and Applicable Human Rights Treaties 262A. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

B. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

C. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

VII. Good Governance in British Overseas Territories

VIII. The Salience of Indigenous Rights for the Chagos Islanders 273A. The Concept of Indigeneity in International Law

B. The Concept of Indigeneity in the Chagossian Context

C. Indigenous Land Rights in the Chagossian Context