ABSTRACT
The maritime dispute between Mauritius and the UK over the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, settled by international arbitration, as well as the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the detachment of the Chagos Archipelago offer useful insights and analogies for the analysis of the Sovereign Base Areas’ regime. A case involving the ‘permanent sovereignty’ principle and the prohibition of exploitation of resources in occupied areas is the one concerning the natural resources of Western Sahara. Western Sahara was a Spanish colony listed as a non-self-governing territory, and hence its people was entitled to hold a self-determination referendum. Irrespective of the statehood question, when it comes to the capacity of the State of Palestine to have maritime zones and rights, it is necessary to have recourse to the Israel–Palestine Liberation Organization agreements as well.
