This website requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings, or use a different web browser like Google Chrome or Safari.

Options

From our private database of 34,000+ case briefs...

Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965

International Court of Justice

2019 I.C.J. 169 (2019)

Facts

Until 1965, the United Kingdom (UK) governed a group of islands in the Indian Ocean called the Republic of Mauritius and its dependencies. Small islands and atolls nearby comprised a Mauritius dependency called the Chagos Archipelago. The largest was Diego Garcia, a tiny island of about 10 square miles comprising more than half the archipelago’s total land area. Because the US wanted to build military facilities on Diego Garcia, the UK split off the Chagos Archipelago and established a new colony before granting Mauritius independence. The UK agreed with the US to resettle any inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago elsewhere. Known as Chagossians, the UK forcibly removed the entire population of the Chagos Archipelago or prevented them from returning over a five-year period. Meanwhile, Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and admittance to the United Nations (UN) without the Chagos Archipelago. Mauritius’s new prime minister told its parliament that they its people had no choice. The UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion as to whether the UK lawfully completed Mauritius’s decolonization and the legal consequences of continuing to administer the Chagos Archipelago, particularly for resettling displaced Mauritian nationals and Chagossians there.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 607,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 607,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 34,000 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 607,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
34,000 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support