Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse of litigation associated with the declaration of the Marine Protected Area on 1 April 2010 are to date.

Though some final costs from Counsel on the recently concluded Court of Appeal hearing are yet to be received, the costs of domestic litigation to date is £325,444.42. We understand the litigant, Mr. Olivier Bancoult, has also been in receipt of legal aid. HM Government has been successful in defending all such litigation, and has therefore been awarded full costs in the Divisional Court, and half of our costs in the Court of Appeal, though these are still subject to assessment.

In respect of the recently concluded challenge by Mauritius in an arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, various costs matters are still ongoing.