The dilemmas of decolonization in the Chagos Islands – The dynamics of state sovereignty and the right to self-determination in international law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32980/MJSz.2025.2.54Keywords:
Chagos Archipelago, , Right to self-determination, territorial integrity, International Court of Justice, Advisory OpinionAbstract
The international legal status of the Chagos Islands is complex and contentious, mainly due to the territorial dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. The aim of this study is to explore the historical background and the current de facto situation of the Chagos Islands, based on the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in February 2019, at the request of the UN General Assembly.
References
DURUP Julien: The Chagos. A short history and its legal identity in: Etude Ocean Indien, 49-50, 2013., https://doi.org/10.4000/oceanindien.2003
HILL, Chris: Chagos: Plantation or Paradise? Island Edens and Indian Ocean Empires, 1600-2023, in Challenges and Prospects for the Chagos Archipelago edited by Laura Jeffery, Chris Monaghan, Mairi O'Gorman, Routledge, 2025., https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003390299-7
HILPOLD, Peter: ‘Humanizing’ the Law of Self-Determination – the Chagos Island Case in: Nordic Journal of International Law 91 (2022) 189–215, https://doi.org/10.1163/15718107-91020001.
JEFFERY, Laura: The Chagos Archipelago: A limited victory for decolonization. Anthropology Today, 40, Issue 6., 2024., https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12929
KATTAN, Victor. (2019). The Chagos Advisory Opinion and the Law of Self-Determination. Asian Journal of International Law, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2044251319000195
NAUVEL Christian “A Return from Exile in Sight? The Chagossians and Their Struggle”, 5 Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights (2007).
LAMM Vanda, A nemzetközi bíróság kötelező joghatóságát elfogadó nyilatkozatok in: Állam és Jogtudomány, 2003/3-4.
VINE, David: Island of Shame: The Secret History of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.
SIMMA, Bruno: The International Court of Justice: a critical appraisal, in: F. Mégret - Ph. Alston (eds.): The United Nations and Human Rights 2020., https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198298373.003.0005