An audience was held on Thursday, November 5, in London, as part of a legal challenge regarding the consultation of Chagossians. The judges must decide if the procedure can continue without ruling on the issue of sovereignty at this stage. The case of the Chagos Islands has returned to British justice. Three applicants of Chagossian origin are seeking to obtain the possibility of pursuing their judicial challenge of decisions taken by London as part of the agreement with Mauritius.
The applicants, Bertrice Pompe, Louis Michel Mandarin, and Louis Misley Mandarin, are contesting the way their community's interests were taken into account. They believe that the Chagossians were not sufficiently consulted on decisions concerning their ancestral territory. The case had already been the subject of a procedure before the British High Court. On March 10, 2026, Judge Mrs Justice Stacey had refused to allow the continuation of the appeal.
The applicants contested this decision, which led to a new hearing scheduled for Thursday, November 5. This judicial step does not concern a judgment on sovereignty. The dispute concerns the possibility of pursuing a Judicial Review procedure, allowing certain government decisions to be subject to judicial control. The judges are not called upon, at this stage, to attribute sovereignty over the archipelago or to rule definitively on the legality of the agreement between London and Port-Louis.
An authorization would allow the applicants to pursue their judicial approach. A refusal would constitute an obstacle to this particular procedure, subject to any possible appeals. The Chagossians are at the center of the dispute. The case highlights a question that has long accompanied the Chagos dossier: what place should the displaced populations occupy in decisions concerning the future of the archipelago?
The case has several dimensions: the sovereignty claimed by Mauritius, the security commitments concerning Diego Garcia, and the rights of the Chagossians. The positions of the applicants should not be presented as those of the entire Chagossian community, whose opinions may differ. At the time of this update, no definitive decision from the November 5 hearing could be confirmed.
The next determining information will be the judges' decision on the continuation of the appeal, as well as its procedural consequences for the parties concerned. The applicants are seeking to have their day in court to challenge the UK government's decisions regarding the Chagos Islands. The court's decision will have significant implications for the future of the archipelago and its inhabitants.
The Chagos Islands have been a point of contention between the UK and Mauritius for decades. The UK's decision to excise the islands from Mauritius in 1965 has been a source of dispute ever since. The Chagossians were forcibly relocated from their ancestral home to make way for a US military base on Diego Garcia.
Key points
- The British court hearing was held on November 5 to determine if a legal challenge by three Chagossian applicants against the UK government's agreement with Mauritius can proceed.
- The applicants are contesting the way their community's interests were taken into account in the agreement between London and Port-Louis.
- The court's decision will have significant implications for the future of the archipelago and its inhabitants.
