Miriam Bak McKenna

The International Court of Justice has just heard four days of arguments as it weighs the legality of a hugely contentious colonial act: the UK’s decision to separate the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius prior to the latter’s independence in 1968. Mauritius has been pursuing this case for decades, and has made substantial progress in recent years. And by claiming that the UK breached that right during the decolonization process, it has forced important issues about self-determination up on the international agenda.