The International Court of Justice,or colloquially the World Court,is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations,and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. It is one of the six organs of the United Nations (UN),and is located in The Hague,Netherlands.
The Chagos Archipelago or Chagos Islands is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge,a long submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean. In its north are the Salomon Islands,Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos;towards its south-west are the Three Brothers,Eagle Islands,Egmont Islands and Danger Island;southeast of these is Diego Garcia,by far the largest island. All are low-lying atolls,save for a few extremely small instances,set around lagoons.
The Chagossians are an Afro-Asian ethnic group originating from freed African slaves brought to the Chagos Islands,specifically Diego Garcia,Peros Banhos,and the Salomon island chain,in the late 18th century as well as people of Asian descent. Under international law,they are the indigenous people of the Chagos archipelago. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being forcibly removed by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia,the island where most Chagossians lived,could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today,no Chagossians are allowed to live on the island of Diego Garcia or anywhere in the Chagos archipelago,despite many of the islands they used to inhabit being over 160 km away from Diego Garcia.
Hisashi Owada is a Japanese former jurist,diplomat and law professor. He served as a judge on the International Court of Justice from 6 February 2003 until 7 June 2018,and was president of the court from 2009 to 2012. He is the father of Empress Masako and the father-in-law of the incumbent Emperor of Japan,Naruhito.
Thomas Buergenthal was a Czechoslovak-born American international lawyer,scholar,law school dean,and judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He resigned his ICJ post as of 6 September 2010 and returned to his position at The George Washington University Law School where he was the Lobingier Professor Emeritus of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence.
Rosalyn C. Higgins,Baroness Higgins,is a British former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She was the first female judge elected to the ICJ,and was elected to a three-year term as its president in 2006.
The United Kingdom,at the request of the United States,began expelling the inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago in 1968,concluding its forced deportations on 27 April 1973 with the expulsion of the remaining Chagossians on the Peros Banhos atoll. The inhabitants,known at the time as the Ilois,are today known as Chagos Islanders or Chagossians.
Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is a Somali lawyer and judge serving on the International Court of Justice since 2009. He served as the court's president from 2018 to 2021.
Philippe Joseph Sands,KC Hon FBA is a British and French writer and lawyer at 11 King's Bench Walk and Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London. A specialist in international law,he appears as counsel and advocate before many international courts and tribunals,including the International Court of Justice,the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,the European Court of Justice,the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.
Sir Christopher John Greenwood is Master of Magdalene College,Cambridge and a former British judge at the International Court of Justice. Prior to his election,he was professor of international law at the London School of Economics and a barrister who regularly appeared as counsel before the International Court of Justice,the European Court of Human Rights,the English courts,and other tribunals.
Stephen Myron Schwebel,is an American jurist and international judge,counsel and arbitrator. He previously served as judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal (2010–2017),as a member of the U.S. National Group at the Permanent Court of Arbitration,as president of the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal (1993–2010),as president of the International Court of Justice (1997–2000),as vice president of the International Court of Justice (1994–1997),and as Judge of the International Court of Justice (1981–2000). Prior to his tenure on the ICJ,Schwebel served as deputy legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State (1974–1981) and as assistant legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State (1961–1967). He also served as a professor of law at Harvard Law School (1959–1961) and Johns Hopkins University (1967–1981). Schwebel is noted for his expansive opinions in momentous cases such as Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua and Oil Platforms.
The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of 9 July 2004 is an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in relation to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean,halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands,many very small,amounting to a total land area of 60 square kilometres. The largest and most southerly island is Diego Garcia,27 square kilometres,the site of a Joint Military Facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Official administration is remote from London,though the local capital is often regarded as being on Diego Garcia.
Nawaf Salam is a Lebanese diplomat,jurist,and academic. He currently serves as the 27th president of the International Court of Justice. He was elected on 9 November 2017 as judge on the International Court of Justice for the 2018–2027 term,having received a concurrent majority of votes in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. He served as Lebanon's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2007 to 2017,during which period he held the positions of President of the Security Council and Vice President of the General Assembly. He was elected as president of the International Court of Justice on 6 February 2024. Salam is the second Arab to be elected as president and the first Lebanese judge.
Mauritius v United Kingdom was an arbitration case concerning the status of the Chagos Archipelago and the attempts of the United Kingdom government to create a Marine Protected Area in British Indian Ocean Territory. The dispute was arbitrated by a arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration was asked on 31 March 2011 to function as registry in the proceedings.
Sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago was disputed between Mauritius,Maldives and the United Kingdom. Mauritius has repeatedly stated that the Chagos Archipelago is part of its territory and that the United Kingdom claim is a violation of United Nations resolutions banning the dismemberment of colonial territories before independence. On 22 May 2019,the United Nations General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution declaring that the archipelago was part of Mauritius;116 countries voted in favour of Mauritius while six opposed it.
The 2014 International Court of Justice election began on 6 November 2014 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. In the set of triennial elections,the General Assembly and the Security Council concurrently elect five judges to the Court for nine-year terms,in this case beginning on 6 February 2015.
The Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 is an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute in response to a request from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In a 13–1 ruling,the Court deemed the United Kingdom's separation of the Chagos Islands from the rest of Mauritius in 1965,when both were colonial territories,to be unlawful and found that the United Kingdom is obliged to end "its administration of the Chagos Islands as rapidly as possible."
Venu Rajamony is an Indian diplomat and professor affiliated with the Indian Foreign Service. He teaches Diplomatic Practice at the Jindal Global Law School of the O.P. Jindal Global University,Sonipat,Haryana. On September 17,2021,he assumed the role of Officer on Special Duty for External Cooperation in the Government of Kerala,holding the rank of Chief Secretary with an office at Kerala House,New Delhi. He resigned from this position on September 16,2023,citing disagreements with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He held the position of Ambassador of India to the Netherlands from 2017 to 2020. He also served as the Permanent Representative of India to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague,overseeing India’s relations with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
Liseby Elysé is a Mauritian activist of Chagossian origin. She is known for her testimony before the International Court of Justice in 2019 in the case between Mauritius and the United Kingdom concerning sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.
