Article from https://conservativepost.co.uk/
Today, the Supreme Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory, presided over by The Honourable James Lewis KC, Chief Justice, has handed down a landmark judgment in the Chagos case, delivering a historic victory for the Chagossian people.
Following the judicial review heard on 13 March 2026, the Court has granted the claim and ruled that the long-standing removal of the Chagossians’ right of abode is unlawful, ordering that it be quashed.
This is a seismic moment in the decades-long struggle for justice.
For more than twenty years, successive governments have relied on a 2004 Order in Council, introduced under the Blair government, to deny Chagossians the right to live in their homeland. That legal foundation has now been fundamentally dismantled.
The case challenged both the government’s refusal to grant permits and its decision to issue removal notices to Chagossians currently on the islands, without fair process or proper consideration of their circumstances. The Court’s findings go further, addressing the core legal structure that has been used to exclude an entire people from their homeland.
At the centre of the case was a simple but powerful point, the government has a wide discretion to grant permits for presence in the territory, yet it failed to exercise that discretion lawfully. In practice, it operated as though no permits could be granted at all, denying the claimants any meaningful opportunity to regularise their presence.
The Court also found serious procedural unfairness. Removal notices were issued without prior engagement, without giving the claimants an opportunity to make representations, and without adequate reasons. These failures go to the heart of basic public law principles.
Crucially, the Court has now confirmed that the exclusion of the right of abode itself cannot lawfully stand in the present circumstances. That finding alone transforms the legal position.
With the right of abode restored, the government’s ability to remove Chagossians from the islands is now dramatically constrained. Any future attempt to do so will require a lawful process, proper justification, and compelling reasons capable of withstanding judicial scrutiny. In practical terms, removal becomes exceptionally difficult to justify.
The legal team, led by Philip Rule KC and supported by James Tumbridge, advanced arguments grounded in fundamental public law principles, fairness, the proper exercise of discretion, and the historic context of the Chagossian people’s displacement.
The legal case has been supported by donations from the Great British PAC.
Misley Mandarin, Interim First Minister of the Chagossian people, said:
“Today justice has finally begun to catch up with history. For generations we have lived with exile, with loss, and with the denial of our most basic rights. This judgment restores not just a legal principle, but our dignity as a people.
We have returned peacefully to our homeland. We ask only to live, to remember, and to belong. Today the law has recognised what we have always known, that our connection to these islands cannot be erased.”
Barrister James Tumbridge said:
“This judgment shows justice works when people are given the chance to be heard. The decision to forcibly remove British subjects from British land, for the Crown to take away the right of abode, should never have been allowed. Today we can start to right that wrong.”
Claire Bullivant, CEO of the Great British PAC said:
“This is a historic victory. For decades, Chagossians have been denied the most basic right, the right to live in their own homeland. Today’s judgment confirms that the legal basis for that exclusion cannot stand.
It is hard to overstate the importance of this moment. The government’s entire approach to Chagos, built over more than twenty years, has been fundamentally called into question.”
The government has already indicated that it intends to appeal the decision.
Nevertheless, today’s judgment marks a turning point. While the Court cannot itself order the creation of a settlement, it has reshaped the legal framework in a way that makes the continued exclusion, or removal, of Chagossians from their homeland extraordinarily difficult to sustain.
After decades of struggle, the Chagossian people are now closer than ever to securing their rightful place in their homeland.