An objective of the St. Gallen workshop on the advisory opinion concerning the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 was to discuss hidden and so far, untold perspectives and dynamics that have framed the Chagossians’ long legal struggle to return. In the following I focus on some untold...

1. Introduction There has been considerable debate, presented before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court), regarding the scope of the request to the ICJ and the powers of the Court to express an opinion on the matter.[1] There does, however, seem to be general consensus in the arguments put before the ICJ, that...

1. Introduction This paper considers the potential implications of the Chagos advisory proceedings in the International Court of Justice for other territorial situations.[1] At the heart of the advisory proceedings is the questionable lawfulness of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from the territory of Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained its independence...

1. Introduction Decolonization has changed the map of the world – creating not only more than a hundred newly independent States, but also new territorial units below the State level that continue to raise irritant questions of international law. One of those novel geographical and geopolitical constructs is the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in...