Crown Dependencies

The Isle of Man is situated in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland, and the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are situated in the English Channel to the west of the Cotentin

The Crown Dependencies are possessions of The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.

Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union. All three Crown dependencies are members of the British-Irish Council. Since 2005, each Crown dependency has had a Chief Minister as head of government. Although the dependencies are possessions of the British Crown, and are not sovereign nations in their own right, the power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council).[1]

These Crown dependencies, together with the United Kingdom, are collectively known as the British Islands. Since the British Nationality Act 1981 came into effect, they have been treated as part of the United Kingdom for British nationality law purposes.[2] However, each dependency maintains local controls over housing and employment, with special rules applying to British citizens without specified connections to that dependency (as well as to non-British citizens).

Each Island has its own separate international vehicle registration (GBG – Guernsey, GBA – Alderney, GBJ – Jersey, GBM – Isle of Man), internet domain (.gg – Guernsey, .je – Jersey, .im – Isle of Man), and ISO 3166-2 codes, first reserved on behalf of the Universal Postal Union (GGY – Guernsey, JEY – Jersey, IMN – Isle of Man) and then added officially by the International Organization for Standardization on 29 March 2006. In addition, since 2008 the Isle of Man has used the aircraft registration M-.

Contents

The Channel Islands: The Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey

Main article: Channel Islands

For administrative purposes, the Channel Islands are grouped into two Bailiwicks, known, respectively, as the Bailiwick of Jersey (comprising the island of Jersey and uninhabited islets such as the Minquiers and Écréhous), and the Bailiwick of Guernsey (comprising the islands of Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Brecqhou, Herm, Jethou and Lihou). Each Bailiwick is also a Crown Dependency.

The Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey each have their own legal and healthcare systems, and their own separate immigration policies, with "local status" in one Bailiwick having no jurisdiction in the other. The two Bailiwicks exercise bilateral double taxation treaties. Each Channel Island Bailiwick is headed by a Bailiff. Since 1961, the Bailiwicks have had separate courts of appeal, but generally the Bailiff of each Bailiwick has been appointed to serve on the panel of appellate judges for the other Bailiwick.

Bailiwick of Guernsey

The Bailiwick of Guernsey comprises the island of Guernsey, the island of Sark, the island of Alderney, Herm, and various other small islands. The parliament is the States of Guernsey.

Within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, autonomy is exercised by Sark, a feudal (but democratising) state under the Seigneur, whose legislature is called the Chief Pleas, and by Alderney, whose legislature is called the States of Alderney, under an elected President.

Guernsey issues its own coins and banknotes:

These circulate freely in both Bailiwicks alongside UK coinage and English and Scottish banknotes. They are not legal tender within the UK, but are often accepted anyway.

There are few political parties: candidates generally stand for election as independents.

Bailiwick of Jersey

Main article: Jersey

The Bailiwick of Jersey consists of the Island of Jersey and its uninhabited dependencies.

The parliament is the States of Jersey. The States of Jersey Law 2005 introduced the post of Chief Minister of Jersey, abolished the Bailiff's power of dissent to a resolution of the States and the Lieutenant Governor's power of veto over a resolution of the States, established that any Order in Council or Act of the United Kingdom that it is proposed should apply to Jersey shall be referred to the States, in order that the States may signify their views on it.[3]

Jersey issues its own coins and banknotes:

These circulate freely in both Bailiwicks alongside UK coinage and English and Scottish banknotes. They are not legal tender within the UK.

There are few political parties, as candidates generally stand for election as independents (but see List of political parties in Jersey).

Isle of Man

Main articles: Isle of Man and History of the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man's Tynwald claims to be the world's oldest parliament in continuous existence, dating back to 979. (However, it does not claim to be the oldest parliament, as Iceland's Althing dates back to 930.) It consists of a popularly elected House of Keys and an indirectly elected Legislative Council, which may sit separately or jointly to consider pieces of legislation, which, when passed into law, are known as "Acts of Tynwald". Candidates often stand for election as independents, rather than being selected by political parties. There is a Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister.

The Isle of Man issues its own coins and banknotes:

These circulate freely alongside UK coinage and English, Northern Irish and Scottish banknotes.

Isle of Man Post issues its own stamps and makes significant revenue from the sale of special issues to collectors.

Relationship with the Crown

In each Crown dependency, the British monarch is represented by a Lieutenant Governor, but this post is largely ceremonial. In 2005, it was decided in the Isle of Man to replace the Lieutenant Governor with a Crown Commissioner, but this decision was reversed before it was implemented.

All "insular" legislation has to receive the approval of the "Queen in Council", in effect, the Privy Council in London, with a UK minister being the Privy Councillor with responsibility for the Crown dependencies. Certain types of domestic legislation in the Isle of Man, however, may be signed into law by the Lieutenant Governor, using delegated powers, without having to pass through the Privy Council. In Jersey, provisional legislation of an administrative nature may be adopted by means of triennial regulations (renewable after three years), without requiring the assent of the Privy Council.[4] Much legislation, in practice, is effected by means of secondary legislation under the authority of prior laws or Orders in Council.

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are part of the territory annexed by the Duchy of Normandy in 933 from the Duchy of Brittany. This territory was added to the grant of land given in settlement by the King of France in 911 to the Viking raiders who had sailed up the Seine almost to the walls of Paris.

William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, claimed the title King of England in 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, and secured the claim through the Norman conquest of England.

Subsequent marriages between Kings of England and French nobles meant that Kings of England had title to more French lands than the King of France. When the King of France asserted his feudal right of patronage, the then-King of England, King John, fearing he would be imprisoned should he attend, failed to fulfil his obligation.

In 1204 the title and lands of the Duchy of Normandy and his other French possessions were stripped from King John of England by the King of France. The Channel Islands remained in the possession of the King of England, who ruled them as Duke of Normandy until the Treaty of Paris in 1259.

King Henry III of England renounced the title of Duke of Normandy by that treaty, and none of his successors ever revived it. The Channel Islands continued to be governed by the Kings of England as French fiefs, distinct from Normandy, until the Hundred Years' War, during which they were definitively separated from France.

At no time did the Channel Islands form part of the Kingdom of England, and they remained legally separate, though under the same Crown, through the subsequent unions of Scotland and England (1707), and Ireland (1801). Elizabeth II reigns over the Channel Islands directly, and not by virtue of her role as monarch of the United Kingdom. No specific title is associated with her role as monarch of the Channel Islands, however; she is popularly referred to (even on a Buckingham Palace website) as "Duke of Normandy" [5] (not "Duchess")[6] but this anachronistic title has no basis in law.[7]

A unique constitutional position has arisen as successive monarchs have confirmed the liberties and privileges of the Bailiwicks, often referring to the so-called Constitutions of King John, a legendary document supposed to have been granted by King John in the aftermath of 1204. Governments of the Bailiwicks have generally tried to avoid testing the limits of the unwritten constitution by avoiding conflict with British governments.

Following the restoration of King Charles II, who had spent part of his exile in the Island of Jersey, the Channel Islands were given the right to set their own customs duties, referred to by the Jersey Legal French term as impôts.

Isle of Man

On the Isle of Man the British monarch is Lord of Mann, a title variously held by Norse, Scottish and English kings and nobles (the English nobles in feudality to the English Crown) until it was revested into the British Crown in 1765. The title "Lord" is today used irrespective of the sex of the person who holds it.

Relationship with the UK

The British Government is solely responsible for defence and international representation (although, in accordance with 2007 framework agreements,[8] the UK has undertaken not to act internationally on behalf of the Crown dependencies without prior consultation). Each Crown dependency has responsibility for its own customs and immigration services. Until 2001, responsibility for the Crown dependencies belonged to the Home Office, but was then transferred first to the Lord Chancellor's Department, then to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and finally to the Ministry of Justice.

Acts of the British Parliament do not usually apply to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, unless explicitly stated, and even this is increasingly rare. When deemed advisable, Acts of Parliament may be extended to the Islands by means of an 'Order in Council', and normally the agreement of their administrations would be sought first. An example of this was the Television Act 1954, which was extended to the Channel Islands, so as to create a local ITV franchise, known as Channel Television.

Westminster retains the right to legislate for the Islands against their will as a last resort, but this is also rarely exercised, and may, according to legal opinion from the Attorney-General of Jersey, have fallen into desuetude — although this argument was not accepted by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (The Marine, Etc., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 was one recent piece of legislation extended to the Isle of Man against the wishes of the Manx Parliament).

The States of Jersey Law 2005 established that all Acts of the United Kingdom and Orders in Council were to be referred to the States, thus giving greater freedom of action to Jersey in international affairs.

In recent years, with the development of finance industries and the increasing interdependence of the modern world, the Islands have been more active in international relations, concluding treaties and signing conventions with other states separately from the UK. Such treaties typically concern matters such as tax, finance, environment and trade, and other matters not relating directly to defence and international representation. The UK has in recent years, however, agreed to the Channel Islands negotiating directly with the French government on topics such as French nuclear activities in the region, as this is a matter on which the UK government holds views so at odds with those of the governments of the Bailiwicks that it feels unable to continue to represent the Islands itself.

The constitutional and cultural proximity of the Islands to the UK means that there are shared institutions and organisations. The BBC, for example, has local radio stations in the Channel Islands, and also a website run by a team based on the Isle of Man (which is included in BBC North West). While the Islands now assume responsibility for their own post and telecommunications, they continue to participate in the UK telephone numbering plan, and they have adapted their postcode systems to be compatible with that of the UK.

Relationship with the EU

Main article: Special member state territories and their relations with the European Union#The_Channel_Islands_and_the_Isle_of_Man

Certain aspects of membership of the European Union apply to the Crown Dependencies, by association of the United Kingdom's membership, governed by Article 299(6)(c) of the Treaty establishing the European Community:

this Treaty shall apply to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man only to the extent necessary to ensure the implementation of the arrangements for those islands set out in the Treaty concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Economic Community and to the European Atomic Energy Community signed on 22 January 1972.;

and by Protocol 3 to the UK's Act of Accession to the Community:[9]

An Act to make provision in connection with the enlargement of the European Communities to include the United Kingdom, together with (for certain purposes) the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. [17 October 1972]"

Of the Four Freedoms of the EU, the islands take part in that concerning the movement of goods, but not those concerning the movement of people, services or capital. The Channel Islands are outside the VAT area (as they have no VAT), while the Isle of Man is inside it.[10] Both areas are inside the customs union.[11]

Channel Islanders and Manx people are British citizens and hence European citizens.[12] However, they are not entitled to take advantage of the freedom of movement of people or services unless they are directly connected (through birth, descent from a parent or grandparent, or five years' residence) with the United Kingdom.[13]

The common agricultural policy does not apply to the Crown Dependencies. Their citizens do not take part in elections to the European Parliament.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Profile of Jersey". States of Jersey. http://www.gov.je/ChiefMinister/International+Relations/Profile+of+Jersey.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "The legislature passes primary legislation, which requires approval by The Queen in Council, and enacts subordinate legislation in many areas without any requirement for Royal Sanction and under powers conferred by primary legislation." 
  2. ↑ http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/nationalityinstructions/nisec2gensec/Britishoverseasterritories?view=Binary
  3. ↑ STATES OF JERSEY LAW 2005
  4. ↑ Jersey Law | Jersey Law Review | October 1997 | The Sources Of Jersey Law
  5. ↑ "Royal Insight October 2003". The official website of the British Monarchy. 2008. http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page2601.asp. Retrieved 2008-07-23. 
  6. ↑ "Royal Insight January 2007". The official website of the British Monarchy. 2008. http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5744.asp. Retrieved 2008-07-23. 
  7. ↑ "Royal Styles and Titles in England and Great Britain". http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/royalstyle_uk.htm. 
  8. ↑ International Relations - Jersey and UK agree framework for developing Jersey’s international identity
  9. ↑ European Communities Act 1972
  10. ↑ Article 6 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 (as amended) on the common system of value added tax (OJ L 347, 11.12.2006, p. 1) Eur-lex.europa.eu.
  11. ↑ Article 3(1) of Council Regulation 2913/92/EEC of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (as amended) (OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1–50) Eur-lex.europa.eu.
  12. ↑ s 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 grants citizenship to (most) people born in the 'United Kingdom'. s 50 of the Act defines the 'United Kingdom' to include the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
  13. ↑ Protocol 3 of the United Kingdom's succession treaty to the EU (OJ L 73, 27.03.1972).

External links