A judgment by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) that caused the loss of territorial waters in the south of the Maldives is unreasonable under international law, according to experts advising the Maldives government on the matter, the Attorney General’s office said on Monday.
A plan unveiled by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on November 15 stated that the judgment would be appealed within the first 100 days of his government. But the government failed to fulfill the pledge.
In the statement issued on Monday, the AG office highlighted the challenges in appealing the ITLOS decision and blamed the former government for acting irresponsibly.
The statement also noted the legal advice provided to the government by former Attorney General Dr. Mohamed Anil and two experts from the UK and Malta.
According to the statement, the experts raised questions about the legal weight of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which was referred to during the ITLOS decision in determining the border between Maldives and Mauritius.
The ICJ's advisory opinion is not binding under international law, the AG office said.
The statement further noted that the AG office has been advised that based on the ICJ's advisory opinion and the UN General Assembly resolution, the decision that Mauritius has sovereignty over Chagos is not legally sound.
For those reasons, experts believe that Chagos is not under Mauritius' sovereignty. The government says there are challenges, but with the experts' recommendations, the ITLOS decision could be changed in an appeal.
The ICJ decided in 2019 that Mauritius has sovereignty over Chagos. In a case filed over the maritime boundary between the Maldives and the Chagos, ITLOS maintained the ICJ's decision and determined that Mauritius had sovereignty over the archipelago and divided an overlapping area of 92,000 square kilometers.
