R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3)

On 11 June 2013, the Divisional Court handed down a judgment dismissing a challenge brought by Mr. Bancoult against the creation of a Marine Protected Area (‘MPA’) in the British Indian Ocean Territory ('BIOT'). Mr. Bancoult, chairman of the Chagos Refugee Group, raised a number of grounds of challenge against the creation of a “no take” MPA in the territory. He alleged that the MPA had been created for an improper motive of preventing resettlement of the Chagos Islands in the BIOT. He sought to rely upon certain “Wikileaks” cables in support. The Divisional Court (Stephen Richards LJ and Mitting J) ruled that the Wikileaks cables could not be relied upon as authentic documents emanating from the US Embassy in London, without infringing the terms of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The documents were accordingly ruled inadmissible. The Court also held that the consultation exercise conducted by the Secretary of State prior to the creation of the MPA was not otherwise unlawful. Finally, the Court also ruled that the creation of the MPA did not infringe Article 198 TFEU concerning the association between Member States of the EU and their overseas territories.

Kieron Beal QC was part of a team of Counsel instructed on behalf of the Secretary of State.