Bancoult, R (on the application of) v Secretary Of State For Foreign & Commonweal Office

Facts

• The Chagos Archipelago was ceded by France to Great Britain in 1814.
• From 1814 to 1965, the Archipelago was governed as part of the British colony of Mauritius.
• In the 1960s, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to establish a major American military base on the chief island of the Archipelago, Diego Garcia.
• The Immigration Ordinance 1971 was enacted to effect the removal of the Ilois people from the Archipelago.
• The applicant, an Ilois from Peros Banhos in the Archipelago, sought judicial review of the Ordinance.
• The Divisional Court struck down the relevant part of the subordinate measure, holding that a fundamental or constitutional right could only be abrogated by the executive where that was specifically authorized by Act of Parliament.
• The case concerned the jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench over doings in Berwick-on-Tweed.

Issues

• Whether the Immigration Ordinance 1971 was made for an improper purpose.
• Whether the Magna Carta could be relied on in support of the application.
• Whether BIOT should be regarded as a settled colony.
• Whether the Ordinance can reasonably be described as "for the peace order and good government" of BIOT.

Decision

• The Ordinance was found to be unlawful.
• The Magna Carta could not be relied on in support of the application.
• BIOT was regarded as a ceded colony.
• The Ordinance could not reasonably be described as "for the peace order and good government" of BIOT.
• The applicants were granted an order for the whole of their costs of the proceedings.