Time: 9:00am - 6:00pm Venue: Colette Bowe room, Queen’s Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
The Centre for Small States (CSS) at Queen Mary University of London hosts a special conference in early November 2015 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The British Indian Ocean Territory was created on 8 November 1965 by excising the Chagos Islands from the colony of Mauritius and three atolls from the Seychelles. The partitioning of Mauritius on the eve of independence; the involuntary displacement of the Chagos Islanders (pursuant to the construction of a US naval facility on Diego Garcia); and their subsequent chronic impoverishment in Mauritius has remained highly controversial. The marking of fifty years since the BIOT was constituted provides legal scholars and practitioners with a timely opportunity to reflect upon a range of legal issues which continue to affect the BIOT and to evaluate ways in which they might be resolved.
Conference Organiser: Dr Stephen Allen (QMUL) - s.r.allen@qmul.ac.uk.
10.15am: Welcome and Introduction
10:30am-12pm – Panel 1: BIOT and UK law
Chair: Prof Tom Poole (LSE)
Dr Stuart Lakin (Reading): ‘Bancoult and the Contentious Nature of the British Constitution’.
Prof Adam Tomkins (Glasgow): ‘Fairness, Openness and Purpose in the Chagos Story’.
Mr Stephen Kosmin (Barrister, 39 Essex Street Chambers): ‘Inviolable or inadmissible: treaty interpretation in the British Courts’.
1-2:45pm – Panel 2: BIOT and Human Rights
Chair: Prof Malgosia Fitzmaurice (QMUL)
3:15-4:45pm – Panel 3: Sovereignty and Future Prospects
Chair: Ms Jill Barrett (BIICL)
This event is by invitation only.
For more information please contact lawevents@qmul.ac.uk.
Please note that Department of Law events may be photographed or video and audio recorded. These materials will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by Queen Mary University of London. If you object to appearing in the photographs, please let our photographer know on the day. Alternatively you can email lawevents@qmul.ac.uk in advance of the event that you are attending.