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Environmental Protection v the Right of Abode: A Case-Study in the Misuse of Power

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Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory

Part of the book series: The World of Small States ((WSS,volume 4))

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Abstract

The Chagossian people were illegally exiled from their homeland in the 1960s and 1970s. This paper argues that the decision of the UK Government in 2010 to establish a no-take marine protected area covering most of the Chagos archipelago was taken, at least in part, to ensure that the islands remained de-populated, and that, despite court rulings to the contrary, on a proper analysis this decision was likewise unlawful.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See R (on the application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2013] EWHC 1502 (Admin) (High Court) and [2014] EWCA Civ 708 (Court of Appeal).

  2. 2.

    R v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, ex p. Bancoult [2001] QB 1067; for my reflections on that decision, see A Tomkins, ‘Magna Carta, Crown and Colonies’ [2001] Public Law 571.

  3. 3.

    [2008] UKHL 61, [2009] 1 AC 453.

  4. 4.

    See, eg, R (on application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2013] EWHC 1502 (Admin), at [55], [57] and [62]. A Foreign Office note from March 2009 reveals concern inside Government at how the ‘pressure being mounted’ by various sources (including Bancoult and his legal team) ‘to try to get HMG to change its policy on resettlement is gaining in intensity’: cited at para. [62] of the High Court judgment.

  5. 5.

    See, eg, ‘Diego Garcia’ (Reprieve) http://www.reprieve.org.uk/case-study/diego-garcia/. Accessed 20 August 2017.

  6. 6.

    Bancoult (No. 3) (n 4) [55].

  7. 7.

    ibid [57] emphasis added.

  8. 8.

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Consultation on whether to establish a marine protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory (2009), p. 9.

  9. 9.

    ibid, p. 9.

  10. 10.

    ibid, p. 10.

  11. 11.

    ibid.

  12. 12.

    Bancoult (No.2) (n 3).

  13. 13.

    Consultation Document (n 9) 13 (emphasis added).

  14. 14.

    ibid, Annex D.

  15. 15.

    Bancoult (No.2) (n 3).

  16. 16.

    See, e.g. ibid [45] (Lord Hoffmann).

  17. 17.

    ibid [45] (Lord Hoffmann).

  18. 18.

    ibid [56] (Lord Hoffmann).

  19. 19.

    ibid [132] (Lord Carswell).

  20. 20.

    ibid [45] (Lord Hoffmann).

  21. 21.

    Ibid [49] (Lord Hoffmann) (emphasis in the original).

  22. 22.

    [1996] QB 517, 554.

  23. 23.

    Bancoult (No. 2) (n 3) [131] (Lord Carswell).

  24. 24.

    See R v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, ex parte World Development Movement [1995] 1 WLR 386.

  25. 25.

    See R v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Fire Brigades Union [1995] 2 AC 513.

  26. 26.

    World Development Movement (n 24).

  27. 27.

    ibid 398 (Rose LJ).

  28. 28.

    Bancoult (No. 2) (n 3) [10] (Lord Hoffmann).

  29. 29.

    While the Convention has not been extended to BIOT, the United Kingdom is bound by it as a matter of international law; the consultation was a British Government (Foreign Office) document, the responsible Minister being the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary. As I understand it, the Convention had not at the material time been given domestic legal effect within the UK, although it was in large measure given legal effect by force of EU law: see, eg, Directive 2001/42, Article 6 of which is concerned with ‘effective’ consultation.

  30. 30.

    R (on the application of Crompton) v. Wiltshire Primary Care Trust [2009] EWHC 1824 (Admin), [104].

  31. 31.

    [2007] EWHC 311 (Admin), [2007] Env LR 29.

  32. 32.

    ibid [49].

  33. 33.

    [2001] QB 213.

  34. 34.

    ibid [108].

  35. 35.

    [2008] EWCA Civ 438, [24].

  36. 36.

    Greenpeace (n 32).

  37. 37.

    ibid [44].

  38. 38.

    [2009] EWHC 308 (Admin), [65]–[67].

  39. 39.

    Eisai (n 35).

  40. 40.

    R (on the application of Easyjet) v. Civil Aviation Authority [2009] EWCA Civ 1361, [48] (Dyson LJ).

  41. 41.

    Eisai (n 35).

  42. 42.

    Easyjet (n 40) [48] (Dyson LJ).

  43. 43.

    Greenpeace (n 31).

  44. 44.

    [2009] EWCA Civ 239.

  45. 45.

    ibid [44] (emphasis in the original).

  46. 46.

    Eisai (n 35) [50].

  47. 47.

    [1994] 1 AC 531.

  48. 48.

    ibid 560.

  49. 49.

    Easyjet (n 40).

  50. 50.

    ibid [75].

  51. 51.

    ibid [74].

  52. 52.

    ibid [75].

  53. 53.

    Bancoult (No. 1) (n 2).

  54. 54.

    R (on application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2013] EWHC 1502 (Admin).

  55. 55.

    R (on the application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2014] EWCA Civ 708.

  56. 56.

    Mauritius v United Kingdom [457].

  57. 57.

    ibid [428].

  58. 58.

    ibid [448].

  59. 59.

    ibid [533].

  60. 60.

    Ibid [534].

  61. 61.

    ibid [535].

  62. 62.

    Bancoult (No. 2) (n 3) [136].

References

  • Mauritius v United Kingdom ICGJ 486 (PCA 2015)

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  • R (on the application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2013] EWHC 1502 (Admin) (High Court) and [2014] EWCA Civ 708 (Court of Appeal)

    Google Scholar 

  • R (on the application of Bancoult) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2014] EWCA Civ 708

    Google Scholar 

  • R (on the application of Crompton) v. Wiltshire Primary Care Trust [2009] EWHC 1824 (Admin), [104]

    Google Scholar 

  • R (on the application of Easyjet) v. Civil Aviation Authority [2009] EWCA Civ 1361, [48] (Dyson LJ)

    Google Scholar 

  • R v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, ex p. Bancoult [2001] QB 1067; for my reflections on that decision, see A Tomkins, ‘Magna Carta, Crown and Colonies’ [2001] Public Law 571

    Google Scholar 

  • R v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, ex parte World Development Movement [1995] 1 WLR 386

    Google Scholar 

  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Consultation on whether to establish a marine protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory (2009) 9

    Google Scholar 

  • R v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Fire Brigades Union [1995] 2 AC 513

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK

    Adam Tomkins

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  1. Adam Tomkins
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Correspondence to Adam Tomkins .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Stephen Allen

  2. School of Law, Institute of Humanities, University of Worcester, Worcester, United Kingdom

    Chris Monaghan

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Tomkins, A. (2018). Environmental Protection v the Right of Abode: A Case-Study in the Misuse of Power. In: Allen, S., Monaghan, C. (eds) Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The World of Small States, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78541-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78541-7_3

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