ICJ delivers advisory opinion on Mauritius case

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) the main judicial body of the United Nations will deliver today its advisory opinion regarding the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.

A public sitting will take place at 4 pm Cyprus time at the Peace Palace in the Hague during which Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf President of the Court will read the advisory opinion.

Mauritius asked the ICJ for a legal opinion on sovereignty over the archipelago on the grounds that they were unlawfully separated and incorporated into the British Indian Ocean Territory ahead of independence.

Representatives from 22 countries including Cyprus addressed the Court with the Republic's legal team disputing the legality of the British military bases on the island.

Speaking before the Court on September 4th Attorney General Costas Clerides stated that colonialism is a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

Clerides had said that the successful outcome of the case would be a ''very serious legal weapon'', noting that "the right to self-determination is and will always be respected and is inalienable regardless of the circumstances culminating to independence".