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The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.
The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, until 2007 known as the Legislative Council, has 15 members: 13 directly elected for four-year terms, and two ex officio members.
Cherno Sulayman Jallow is a Gambian lawyer and judge who serves as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Gambia. He previously served as Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands from 1999 to 2007.
The law of the British Virgin Islands is a combination of common law and statute, and is based heavily upon English law.
The BVI Beacon is a weekly British Virgin Islands newspaper founded in June 1984 and published on the island of Tortola. The Beacon is owned and published by local businessman Russell Harrigan, also the publisher of Business BVI. The online version of the newspaper was founded on February 14, 2001.
Holidays in the British Virgin Islands are predominantly religious holidays, with a number of additional national holidays. The most important holiday in the Territory is the August festival, which is celebrated on the three days from the first Monday in August to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the British Virgin Islands.
Politics of the British Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979, 1982, 1991, 1994, 2000 and 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
The Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands is the collective decision-making body of the British Virgin Islands government. It is composed of the Premier, four other Ministers of Government, and the Attorney General as an ex officio, non-voting, member. The Governor attends and presides over meetings of Cabinet where possible. The Cabinet has responsibility for the formulation of policy, including directing the implementation of such policy, insofar as it relates to every aspect of government, except those matters for which are reserved to the Governor under the Constitution. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the House of Assembly for such policies and their implementation.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 8 June 2015 to elect members to the House of Assembly. The result was a landslide victory for the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) over the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP). No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats. Unusually, every single incumbent candidate who stood in their original seat was victorious.
The Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands is the principal legal adviser to the Government of the British Virgin Islands. Under the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands the Attorney General sits ex officio in both the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands and in the Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands, but is not permitted to vote in either. The Attorney General also sits on the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy and on the National Security Council.
Omar Wallace Hodge was a politician in the British Virgin Islands. Hodge was the third longest serving member of the House of Assembly after Lavity Stoutt and Ralph O'Neal. Hodge served continuously as the representative for the 6th District from his election in the 1979 general election until his surprise defeat in the 2011 general election. He served a total of 31 years, 360 days. He elected not to contest the 2015 general election.
There are presently five principal British Virgin Islands news websites publishing news focused upon current affairs in the Territory:
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 25 February 2019. For the first time, four parties with at least one incumbent member were contesting an election.
Ingrid A. Moses-Scatliffe is a lawyer and politician in the British Virgin Islands. She has served as Speaker of the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands since December 2011.
Among the fourteen British Overseas Territories, eight – Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the British Antarctic Territory, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, the Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands – recognise and perform same-sex marriages. In the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, only British military and civilian personnel can enter into same-sex marriages and civil partnerships.
Andrew Alturo Fahie was a British Virgin Islands politician who served as Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2019 to 2022. He was also the chairman of the Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands from 2016 to 2022. He was convicted of a range of charges relating to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States in 2024.
Events from the year 2014 in the British Virgin Islands.
Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) is a grade 7-12 secondary school in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Delores Christopher was a British Virgin Islands politician and businesswoman. She was the third woman elected to the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands. She was first elected in the 2003 general election as a representative for the Fifth District on behalf of the National Democratic Party, and subsequently served from 2011 until her death in 2018.
Dawn Smith is a British Virgin Islander lawyer who serves as the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands since 2020.
References
- ↑ "New law year opens". BVI Beacon . 26 September 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ ""Ghanaian" appointed AG of British Virgin Islands". Ghanaweb. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ↑ "New AG to take office". BVI Beacon . 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
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