Global Legal Monitor
International: International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Confirms Sovereignty of Mauritius over Chagos Archipelago
(Feb. 23, 2021) On January 28, 2021, in its Judgment on Preliminary Objections in the Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rejected the Maldives’ challenges to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The judgment was rendered by the Special Chamber instituted by the Special Agreement and Notification concluded between Mauritius and the Maldives in 2019 in accordance with article 15, paragraph 2 of the Statute of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Among its various preliminary objections, the Maldives had challenged the jurisdiction of the Special Chamber, arguing (1) that the United Kingdom (U.K.) was an indispensable third party to the dispute and (2) that sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed.