Resurrected Colonial Courts and the Decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago
This post tells the fascinating story of two recent and remarkable developments in the decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago. One such development was highly publicized, the other largely overlooked. Last week, the governments of Mauritius and the UK issued a surprise joint statement that the two countries had reached an ‘historical political agreement’ on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. The announcement marks a momentous step towards the decolonization of the islands. But the announcement also jars with a recent and largely overlooked development on the territory that has been proceeding in the background: the resurrection of its colonial courts. Running in counterpoint to the international plane, a once inactive colonial judiciary established as an administrative pretence has recently begun to hear cases, and in doing so set the administration of justice in conflict with the US military.
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