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The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, but to a large extent its relations with other countries are handled by the United Kingdom.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2021) |
The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, but to a large extent its relations with other countries are handled by the United Kingdom.
In various laws of the United Kingdom, "the United Kingdom" is defined to exclude the Isle of Man. Such laws include the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, the Interpretation Act 1889, the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, the British Nationality Act 1948, the Interpretation Act 1978, the Isle of Man Act 1979, the Royal Assent to Legislation (Isle of Man) Order 1981 and the Statute Law Revision (Isle of Man) Act 1991.
The UK Ministry of Justice has stated in respect of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands that:
The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom but are self-governing dependencies of the Crown. This means they have their own directly elected legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and courts of law. They are not represented in [the United Kingdom] [P]arliament. The constitutional relationship of the Islands with the United Kingdom is through the Crown and is not enshrined in a formal constitutional document. His Majesty's Government is responsible for the defence and international relations of the Islands. The Crown, acting through the Privy Council, is ultimately responsible for ensuring their good government. [...] The Lieutenant-Governor for each Crown Dependency is [the King's] personal representative. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is the Privy Counsellor with special responsibility for Island Affairs and is supported by a Ministry of Justice Minister who is responsible for the conduct of Islands' business within Whitehall. [1]
Historically, the UK has taken care of its external and defence affairs, and retains paramount power to legislate for the Island. However, in 2007, the Isle of Man and the UK signed an agreement [2] that established frameworks for the development of the international identity of the Isle of Man. Among the points clarified in the agreement were that:
There is no separate Manx citizenship. Citizenship is covered by UK law, and Manx people are classed as British citizens. However, unlike British citizens from the UK, those defined as Manx people under Protocol 3 of the treaty of accession of the United Kingdom, by which the United Kingdom became a member of the European Economic Community, have an endorsement placed in their passports stating that they are not allowed to benefit from European Union provisions relating to employment or establishment. Those Manx persons with a parent or grandparent born in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), or who have lived in the UK for five years, are deemed to have a sufficient relationship to the UK not to be subject to this provision.
The Isle of Man holds neither membership nor associate membership of the European Union, and lies outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Nonetheless, Protocol 3 permits[ citation needed ] trade in Manx goods without non-EU tariffs. [3] In conjunction with the Customs and Excise agreement with the UK, this facilitates free trade with the UK. While Manx goods can be freely moved within the EEA, people, capital and services cannot. [4] [5]
Like Jersey and Guernsey, the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom and was not a direct member of the European Community, but its relationship with the EU was defined under Article 355(5)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (former Article 299 of the EC Treaty) and Protocol 3. [6]
The restriction on free movement of persons was anomalous in that the treaty establishing the EU clearly states that all citizens of member states will also be citizens of the EU. However a special protocol was inserted in the Treaty of Accession which excluded the Channel Islands and Isle of Man from the provisions governing free movement of people. This was done at the request of the governments of those Crown dependencies.
The Isle of Man is not itself a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, as membership is only open to sovereign nations, but it is considered part of the Commonwealth by virtue of its relationship with the United Kingdom, and takes part in several Commonwealth institutions, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Commonwealth Games. The Government of the Isle of Man has made calls for a more integrated relationship with the Commonwealth, [7] including more direct representation and enhanced participation in Commonwealth organisations and meetings, including Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. [8] Allan Bell, a former Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, said: "A closer connection with the Commonwealth itself would be a welcome further development of the Island's international relationships." [9]
The Parliament of the United Kingdom has paramount power to pass legislation for the Isle of Man on all matters, but as stated by the Isle of Man Government, "it is a long-standing convention that it does not do so on domestic matters without the Island's consent". [10] The mechanism by which the Crown normally applies UK legislation is the Privy council.
There are at least two formal options for extending UK legislation to the Isle of Man:
This Act extends only to the Isle of Man
— The Statute Law Revision (Isle of Man) Act 1991 (An Act of Parliament)
Unlike the relationship the Parliament of the UK once had with the Dominion legislatures of the Irish Free State, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa under the Statute of Westminster 1931, there is no law in the United Kingdom which requires the Westminster Parliament to seek formal consent from either Tynwald or the Isle of Man Government before passing legislation for the Isle of Man. Tynwald requested that the Kilbrandon Commission on the Constitution (1969–73) propose that the above convention be enshrined in "strict law", but this request was rejected – partly because the UK Parliament could not make such a law binding on its successors.
Occasionally, the UK Parliament acts against the wishes of Tynwald; the most recent example was the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 , which banned pirate radio stations from operating in Manx waters. A Manx bill to accomplish this was overwhelmingly defeated at its second reading in the House of Keys, prompting Westminster to legislate directly. [11]
This power of the UK Parliament is an ancient consequence of the Lord of Mann's feudality beneath the English Crown, and not a consequence of revestment. An early example of the English Parliament legislating for the Isle of Man was the Bishoprics of Chester and Man Act 1541.
Within the British Government, the Secretary of State for Justice has prime responsibility for overseeing Manx affairs. Manx affairs are handled by the Ministry of Justice. Before 2001 the Home Office had this responsibility.
The UK Government justifies this power to intervene in Manx affairs by pointing to the responsibility of the British Crown for the "good government" of Man. This was the subject of a written exchange on 3 May 2000 in the House of Lords. In response to a Written Question by Baroness Strange enquiring as to the meaning and scope of the Crown's responsibility for the good government of the Crown Dependencies, Lord Bach, for the Government, replied, "The Crown is ultimately responsible for the good government of the Crown Dependencies. This means that, in the circumstances of a grave breakdown or failure in the administration of justice or civil order, the residual prerogative power of the Crown could be used to intervene in the internal affairs of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is unhelpful to the relationship between Her Majesty's Government and the Islands to speculate about the hypothetical and highly unlikely circumstances in which such intervention might take place." If the UK Parliament was unable to impose legislation upon the Isle of Man it would have "responsibility without power".
In addition, the Kilbrandon Commission was firmly of the view that Parliament has power to legislate for the Islands without their consent on any matter in order to give effect to an international agreement which the UK may have made on behalf of the Crown Dependencies. The Kilbrandon Commission went on to make the point that, if Parliament can legislate for the Isle of Man at all, about which there was no doubt, then surely this power knows no bounds: if Parliament can legislate, it can legislate in whatever area it chooses; this is, after all, implicit in the notion of the sovereignty of Parliament. [12]
The Isle of Man was subject to certain European Union laws, by virtue of a being a territory for which the UK has responsibility in international law. These laws were those for areas not covered by the Protocol 3 opt-out that the UK included for the Isle of Man in its accession treaty – the areas excluded being free movement of persons, services and capital and taxation and social policy harmonisation. Exactly how far EU law extended to the Crown Dependencies was however unclear (see Rui Alberto Pereira Roque v. Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, [1998] E.C.R. I-4607).
The United Kingdom has had several disputes with the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, in respect of the Isle of Man, because of Manx legislation on laws providing birching (corporal punishment) and criminalising sodomy as an offence.
The King, the Lord of Mann, usually acts on the advice of his UK ministers, not those of his Isle of Man Government. In practice, this means that many decisions relating to the island are taken by the Secretary of State for Justice (previously the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, and before that, the Home Secretary).
This includes:
Before 2010 the Lieutenant Governor was appointed by the Crown under the advice of the Secretary of State, acting on the recommendation made by a panel led by the Government of the United Kingdom. Since 2010 [13] the Lieutenant Governor remains appointed by the Crown under the advice of the Secretary of State, but now the advice as to the appointment is given under the recommendation made by an entirely local panel, comprising the Chief Minister, the President of Tynwald and the First Deemster.
There is a long history of relations and cultural exchange between the Isle of Man and Ireland. The Isle of Man's historic Manx Gaelic language (and its modern revived variant) are closely related to both Scottish Gaelic and the Irish language, and in 1947, Irish Taoiseach Éamon de Valera spearheaded efforts to save the dying Manx language. Additional joint work on language preservation started as recently as 2008. [14]
In 2008, Ireland signed several tax agreements with the Isle of Man: the first such agreements made by the Irish government with any international financial centre. [15] [16]
Ireland and the Isle of Man have collaborated on preparing reports and jointly pressing the UK government to shut down the Sellafield nuclear plant. [17]
Anybody who has not lived on the island for five years, including British citizens, requires a Control of Employment work permit from the Manx government to take up employment on the island. Manx people, as British Citizens, may travel and work freely in the United Kingdom. Passports issued on the Island are marked 'British Islands – Isle of Man', instead of 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', and these passports are issued to all British Citizens resident on the island.
Protocol 3 of the Treaty of Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community stipulates that those defined as Manxmen "shall not benefit from provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services". [3] [18] Such people have a stamp in their passports stating that "the holder is not entitled to benefit from EC provisions relating to employment or establishment". Manxmen, like Channel Islanders, are not technically covered by the rights of the freedom of movement of workers and, therefore, have no automatic right to work or start a business within mainland Europe. [19] This has caused a problem for several British citizens who, without their knowledge, have been designated as Manxmen, but started employment in Europe. They were later arrested at their place of work by immigration officers and removed from the premises after a few weeks when their details had been processed. A problem is that the stamp is not on the main details page of the passport; it is hidden on the reverse, and the words "European Union" appear on the front of the passport.
Travel to the Isle of Man is regulated by British law. [20] Most travel to the island is from air and sea ports in either the UK or Ireland. Schedule 4 of the Immigration Act 1971 applies a reciprocal arrangement whereby foreign nationals legitimately present in the UK or a Crown dependency do not require any leave to travel to any other part of the British Islands.
The Isle of Man, together with the Channel Islands, the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, form a Common Travel Area, which means there are no immigration controls imposed on those travelling inside the area. However, because the Immigration Act 1971 does not apply to the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man uses the Control of Entry Through the Republic of Ireland Order to automatically grant legal leave to anyone arriving on the Island from the Republic.
Section 7(1) of the Immigration Act 1988 grants the legal right to visit and reside in the Isle of Man to EU and EEA citizens. The Isle of Man was not permitted by EU law to discriminate between the citizens of the UK and those of other EU countries, and consequently any British or other European citizen is currently free to migrate to the Island and live there. But a work permit is still required before taking up employment.
The Isle of Man has no legislation related to asylum claims. Where claims are made, due to "safe third country" rules in international law, the claimant is returned to either the Republic of Ireland or the UK depending on their route to the Isle of Man.
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and some smaller islands. Historically, they are the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy. Although they are not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands as it is for the other Crown Dependency, the Isle of Man, and the British Overseas Territories. The Crown Dependencies are neither members of the Commonwealth of Nations, nor part of the European Union. They have a total population of about 171,916, and the bailiwicks' capitals, Saint Helier and Saint Peter Port, have populations of 33,500 and 18,207 respectively.
The Isle of Man or Mann, is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The government of the United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence and represents it abroad.
The government of the Isle of Man is a parliamentary representative democracy. The Monarch of the United Kingdom is also the head of state of the Isle of Man, and generally referred to as "The King, Lord of Mann". Legislation of the Isle of Man defines "the Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom". His representative on the island is the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, but his role is mostly ceremonial, though he does have the power to grant Royal Assent.
The United Kingdom has three distinctly different legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, calls for a fourth type, that of purely Welsh law as a result of Welsh devolution, with further calls for a Welsh justice system.
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself, are part of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal self-governance, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence, foreign relations and internal security, and ultimate responsibility for good governance. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians, except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
Tynwald, or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council. When the two chambers sit together, they become "Tynwald Court".
The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and together known as the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.
The British Islands is a term within the law of the United Kingdom which refers collectively to the following four polities:
The British Nationality Act 1981 (c. 61) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning British nationality since 1 January 1983.
The pound is the currency of the Isle of Man, at parity with sterling. The Manx pound is divided into 100 pence. Notes and coins, denominated in pounds and pence, are issued by the Isle of Man Government.
The Common Travel Area is an open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The British Overseas Territories are not included. Based on agreements that are not legally binding, the internal borders of the CTA are subject to minimal controls and can normally be traversed by British and Irish citizens with minimal identity documents. The maintenance of the CTA involves co-operation on immigration matters between the British and Irish authorities.
The standard scale is a system in Commonwealth law whereby financial criminal penalties (fines) in legislation have maximum levels set against a standard scale. Then, when inflation makes it necessary to increase the levels of the fines the legislators need to modify only the scale rather than every individual piece of legislation.
The legal system on the Isle of Man is Manx customary law, a form of common law. Manx law originally derived from Gaelic Brehon law and Norse Udal law. Since those early beginnings, Manx law has developed under the heavy influence of English common law, and the uniqueness of the Brehon and Udal foundation is now most apparent only in property and constitutional areas of law.
Since at least 1542, England and later Great Britain and Ireland have been connected politically, reaching a height in 1801 with the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. About five-sixths of the island of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922 as the Irish Free State. Historically, relations between the two states have been influenced heavily by issues arising from their shared history, the independence of the Irish Free State and the governance of Northern Ireland. These include the partition of Ireland and the terms of Ireland's secession, its constitutional relationship with and obligations to the UK after independence, and the outbreak of political violence in Northern Ireland. Additionally, the high level of trade between the two states, their proximate geographic location, their common status as islands in the European Union until Britain's departure, common language and close cultural and personal links mean political developments in both states often closely follow each other.
The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself and the Crown dependencies, and the 14 British Overseas Territories.
The Isle of Man-variant British passport, also known as the Manx passport, is a type of British passport issued by the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, one of the Crown Dependencies associated with the United Kingdom, on behalf of the British sovereign under the Royal Prerogative, at the request of the Isle of Man Government, to British citizens and certain British subjects resident in the Isle of Man, or who have certain qualifying important connections to the Isle of Man but are currently resident in the United Kingdom.
The External relations of the Bailiwick of Jersey are conducted by the External Relations department of the Government of Jersey. Jersey is not an independent state; it is a British Crown dependency, so internationally the United Kingdom is responsible for protecting the island and for consulting Jersey on international trade agreements but it is not a British territory.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. As a bailiwick, Guernsey embraces not only all ten parishes on the island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Alderney and Sark – each with their own parliament – and the smaller islands of Herm, Jethou and Lihou. Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Bailiwick is not part of the United Kingdom, but, as its description suggests, a possession of the Crown. Consequently, though it lies within the Common Travel Area, it was never part of the European Union.
The Law of Guernsey originates in Norman customary law, overlaid with principles taken from English common law and French law, as well as from statute law enacted by the competent legislature(s) – usually, but not always, the States of Guernsey.
The United Kingdom–Crown Dependencies Customs Union or customs arrangements with the Crown Dependencies is a customs union that covers the British Islands. It eliminates all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between those islands, and creates a common external tariff with other countries.
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