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Written question asked by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) on Monday, 23 March 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 March 2015 (named day). It was answered by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Thursday, 26 March 2015 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mauritius

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) legal and (b) judicial costs to the UK have been of contesting the claim brought by Mauritius under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to date; and what estimate he has made of future such costs.

Answer

The legal costs in terms of Counsels’ fees incurred by the UK in defending the proceedings brought by Mauritius were £681,220. As the award has been handed down by the Arbitral Tribunal, we do not at this stage expect there to be any significant future legal costs.

The Tribunal has concluded that Mauritius and the UK should share the costs of the Tribunal in hearing this case. In that regard, the UK has made a payment of 1.3 million Euros (approximately £957,000). We will shortly be receiving a final note of fees of the Tribunal. We understand that it is likely that the UK’s payment exceeded the UK’s share of the Tribunal’s costs and that accordingly, a proportion of the UK’s payment will be remitted back. We therefore cannot at this stage give a final indication of the Tribunal’s total costs.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
228803
Session
2014-15
Subjects
British Indian Ocean Territory Legal costs Mauritius Marine protected areas
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk