Covers the Mauritius Independence Act, 1968 and its effect on 12 March 1968, Mauritius's UN admission on 24 April 1968, the pre-independence 1965 excision of the Chagos Archipelago to create the British Indian Ocean Territory, and the ICJ's 2019 advisory opinion and the General Assembly resolution that followed it. It reports the Court's and Assembly's own findings but does not independently adjudicate the ongoing UK-Mauritius sovereignty negotiations.
The Mauritius Independence Act, 1968, enacted by the UK Parliament and given Royal Assent on 29 February 1968, provided that "on and after 12th March 1968 ... Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom shall have no responsibility for the government of Mauritius."[1] Ahead of independence, the UK had excised the Chagos Archipelago from the Colony of Mauritius on 8 November 1965 to create the British Indian Ocean Territory, later relocating the Chagossian population between 1968 and 1973.[2] Mauritius was admitted to the United Nations on 24 April 1968, six weeks after independence, following a unanimous Security Council recommendation.[3][4] In 2019, the International Court of Justice found in an advisory opinion that the 1965 detachment was not lawfully agreed and that Mauritius's decolonisation was not completed in 1968, and the General Assembly called on the UK to withdraw its administration; this bundle reports those findings without adjudicating sovereignty independently.[5][6]
Status verified as of
Mauritius has been an independent, UN-member state since 1968. This bundle reports the ICJ's 2019 findings on the 1965 Chagos excision but does not adjudicate the ongoing sovereignty negotiations.[4]
History
From the Mauritius Independence Act, 1968 to independence on 12 March 1968 and UN admission six weeks later.
211 words · 1 min read
· Administrative change
Ahead of Mauritian independence, the United Kingdom excised the Chagos Archipelago from the Colony of Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory, and later relocated the Chagossian population.
Significance here: The pre-independence territorial change whose 1968 constitutional status the Act quoted above reflects, and which the ICJ later found was not lawfully agreed.
· Declaration
The Mauritius Independence Act, 1968 ended British responsibility for the government of Mauritius with effect from 12 March 1968.
Significance here: The Act that ended British colonial rule and established Mauritius as an independent state.
· Recognition
The Security Council unanimously recommended Mauritius's admission to the United Nations on 18 April 1968, and the General Assembly admitted it on 24 April 1968.
Significance here: Formal international recognition of Mauritian statehood shortly after independence.
· Legal decision
The International Court of Justice found in a 2019 advisory opinion that the 1965 detachment of the Chagos Archipelago was not lawfully agreed and that Mauritius's decolonisation was not completed in 1968; the General Assembly then called on the UK to withdraw its administration.
Significance here: The Court's and Assembly's own findings on the lawfulness of the 1965 excision, reported here as their conclusions rather than independently adjudicated.
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
Claim: The Mauritius Independence Act, 1968, given Royal Assent on 29 February 1968, provided in Section 1(1): "On and after 12th March 1968 (in this Act referred to as 'the appointed day') Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom shall have no responsibility for the government of Mauritius." Section 5(1) defined "Mauritius" as "the territories which immediately before the appointed day constitute the Colony of Mauritius."
Claim: On 8 November 1965, the United Kingdom excised the Chagos Archipelago from the Colony of Mauritius (together with three islands from the Seychelles) to create the British Indian Ocean Territory, negotiated with Mauritian ministers ahead of independence and including UK compensation payments; between 1968 and 1973 the UK forcibly relocated the Chagossian population to make way for a US military base on Diego Garcia.
Claim: On 18 April 1968, at its 1414th meeting, the Security Council, having examined the application of Mauritius, unanimously recommended to the General Assembly that Mauritius be admitted to UN membership.
Claim: The General Assembly, at its 1643rd plenary meeting on 24 April 1968, having received the Security Council's recommendation and considered Mauritius's application, decided to admit Mauritius to United Nations membership.
Claim: On 25 February 2019, the International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion requested by UN General Assembly resolution 71/292, found that the 1965 detachment of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius was not based on a free and genuine expression of the will of the people concerned, and that the decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed in 1968.
Claim: On 22 May 2019, the General Assembly adopted resolution 73/295, welcoming the ICJ's advisory opinion and demanding that the United Kingdom withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago within six months, by a recorded vote of 116 in favour to 6 against, with 56 abstentions.