MAURITIUS · CHAGOS ISLANDS
The appeal court of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), the UK-run administration over the Chagos Islands, will hand down its judgment on Thursday 12 November 2026 in a case brought by four Chagossians, including Louis Misley Mandarin, who set up camp in February on Ile du Coin, an uninhabited island in the Chagos archipelago. The judgment will say whether a March ruling in their favour stands, including its finding that the territory’s ban on any right of abode, meaning a legal right to live there, is unlawful.
The date comes from the court’s own notice, listed on its website on 4 November 2026. It lands eight days after the UK and Mauritian prime ministers agreed to work on a shared plan to move the wider Chagos dispute forward by the end of the year.
Key Facts
- The ruling The BIOT Court of Appeal hands down judgment on Thursday 12 November 2026.
- The case The territory’s UK-appointed Commissioner appeals a 31 March 2026 judgment won by four Chagossians.
- The camp The four reached Ile du Coin without a permit on 16 February 2026.
- The finding The March ruling quashed Section 9, the clause denying anyone a right of abode.
- The pause The effects of the March ruling are on hold until the appeal is decided.
What the Court Will Decide
The appeal is brought by His Majesty’s Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory, the official who administers the territory for the UK, against a judgment of the territory’s Supreme Court. The appeal was heard on 15 to 17 July 2026, according to the court’s hearing notice.
The judgment is expected to rule on whether the March decision stands. Defimedia, a Mauritian daily, reported on 9 November that the court ordered the full text to be published on the territory administration’s website immediately after it is delivered, and later on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) database, with a press summary.
How the Islanders Reached Ile du Coin
Ile du Coin is an uninhabited island in the Peros Banhos atoll, roughly 135 miles (about 217 kilometres) north of Diego Garcia, the main island and the site of the joint UK-US military base. The four claimants, members of the displaced Chagossian community, landed there on 16 February 2026 without the permit that the territory requires.
The territory issued removal notices on 18 February, and the Supreme Court granted interim relief, a temporary court order, on 19 February to stop them being carried out. Defimedia calls Mandarin the self-proclaimed First Minister of the Chagos.
What the March Judgment Said
On 31 March 2026, Chief Justice James Lewis quashed, meaning cancelled, Section 9 of the territory’s 2004 constitution order, which said no person has the right of abode there, and declared it unlawful. He also quashed the removal notices and ordered them to be decided again through a fair procedure that hears the claimants.
The same judgment set limits. It said the claimants had entered the territory illegally and that nothing in it creates a right to set up a permanent camp without the necessary permits.
The Treaty Backdrop
The case runs alongside the diplomatic track. The UK government said that Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Mauritius’s Navin Ramgoolam agreed in Antigua on 4 November 2026 to work on a shared plan to make further progress by the end of the year, a plan Defimedia reports concerns the Chagos file.
A 2025 treaty would hand sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while keeping Diego Garcia under a 99-year arrangement, but it has not entered into force. Our report on the year-end Chagos plan and our explainer on Mauritius geopolitics give the wider picture.
What It Means for US Readers
Diego Garcia hosts a base run jointly by the UK and the United States, so legal rulings that touch who may live in or visit the territory matter to US planners as well as to Chagossians. This case concerns permits, removal notices and the right of abode, not the sovereignty treaty itself.
A ruling that upholds the March decision would keep the question of Chagossian residence open in court. A ruling that reverses it would let the territory’s administration act again on its removal notices, subject to what the court says on fair procedure.
More on our Mauritius page.
What Is Not Known
- The outcome. The court has not said how it will rule, or which of the March findings the Commissioner challenges.
- What happens to the camp. The March order left the 19 February interim injunction in place until the court decides otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the Chagos appeal be decided?
The BIOT Court of Appeal is due to hand down its judgment on Thursday 12 November 2026, according to the court’s notice listed on 4 November. The appeal was heard on 15 to 17 July.
Who is Misley Mandarin?
He is one of four Chagossians who landed on Ile du Coin on 16 February 2026 without a permit. Defimedia calls him the self-proclaimed First Minister of the Chagos.
What did the March 2026 ruling decide?
It quashed Section 9 of the 2004 constitution order, which denied a right of abode, and quashed the removal notices. It also said the group had no right to a permanent camp without permits.
Does the ruling decide who owns the Chagos Islands?
No. The case is about permits, removal notices and the right of abode in the territory. Sovereignty is the subject of a separate treaty signed in 2025 that has not entered into force.
- British Indian Ocean Territory Administration, Court Hearings and Judgments, notice of judgment hand-down for 12 November 2026 (dated 4 November 2026): biot.gov.io
- BIOT Supreme Court, R (Mandarin and others) v Commissioner for the BIOT, judgment and order of 31 March 2026 (Chief Justice James Lewis KC): biot.gov.io
- UK Government, PM meetings with world leaders at CHOGM, 5 November 2026: gov.uk
- Defimedia, “Présence de Misley Mandarin sur les îles Chagos : le BIOT Appeals Tribunal rendra son arrêt le 12 novembre”, 9 November 2026: defimedia.info
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