Politics of Guernsey take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic British Crown dependency.
The pound is the currency of Guernsey. Since 1921, Guernsey has been in currency union with the United Kingdom and the Guernsey pound is not a separate currency but is a local issue of banknotes and coins denominated in pound sterling, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. It can be exchanged at par with other sterling coinage and notes.
Elections in Guernsey gives information on election and election results in Guernsey with additional information of Sark and Alderney elections.
The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House.
The standard scale is a system 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 States of Guernsey is the parliament of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands. All enactments of the States of Guernsey apply to Herm as well as Guernsey, since Herm is wholly owned by the States of Guernsey.
The Chief Minister of Guernsey chaired the Policy Council, which consists of the heads of each of the ten departments of the States of Guernsey. Guernsey operates a system of consensus, committees-based government. The Policy Council is explicitly not a cabinet and has relatively little executive authority compared to a cabinet; instead, its main function is policy co-ordination. The Chief Minister also spoke for the island externally in political matters.
Parliamentary elections were held in Guernsey on 23 April 2008 to elect 45 candidates. 18,576 voters or 40.58% of the eligible population of 45,772 turned out and cast a total of 89,239 votes; there were 10 blank papers, 35 spoilt papers and on average 4.8 votes were cast. Of the 28 standing deputies all but two, were re-elected to the house; this means that 19 of the Deputies-Elect are new to the chamber. Five of the 12 candidates who had stood unsuccessfully in 2004 were elected in 2008.
Jonathan Paul Le Tocq is a Guernsey politician who served as Chief Minister of Guernsey from 2014 to 2016.
This page list topics related to the Bailiwick of Guernsey, including Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and smaller islands.
Politics of Alderney takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic British Crown dependency, whereby the President of the States of Alderney is the head of government. Alderney is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey but is largely self-governing.
General elections to the States of Guernsey were held on 18 April 2012 to elect 45 candidates. 78 candidates stood for the 45 seats. A total of 29,745 people, or about two-thirds of the population of Guernsey and Herm, registered to vote. There were 20,459 voters, with 81 blank papers and 65 spoilt papers, amended to 71 blank and 72 spoilt after the two recounts. Only five women were elected in 2012. There was a by-election in December 2015 in St Peter Port North.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the British Crown dependency of Guernsey have improved significantly in the past decades. Same-sex sexual activity for both men and women is legal in Guernsey. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2 May 2017 in Guernsey, and since 14 June 2018 in its dependency, Alderney. However, same-sex marriage is not legal in its other dependency, Sark. Guernsey is the only part of the British Isles to have never enacted civil partnership legislation, though civil partnerships performed in the United Kingdom were recognised for succession purposes. Since April 2017, same-sex couples can adopt in the entire Bailiwick. Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has been banned since 2004. Transgender people can legally change gender since 2007.
The Royal Guernsey Militia has a history dating back 800 years. Always loyal to the British Crown, the men were unpaid volunteers whose wish was to defend the Island of Guernsey from foreign invaders.
General elections were held in Guernsey on 27 April 2016 to elect the 38 members of the States to serve until 2020.
The Courts of Guernsey are responsible for the administration of justice in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. They apply the law of the Island, which is a mixture of customary law dating back as far as the 10th century and legislation passed by the legislature, the States of Deliberation.
The legal status of same-sex unions differs within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom. Same-sex marriage became legal in the jurisdiction of Guernsey on 2 May 2017, and in Alderney on 14 June 2018. Sark does not recognise same-sex unions.
The Law of Guernsey originates in Norman Customary Law, overlaid with principles taken from English common law and Equity, as well as from statute law enacted by the competent legislature(s) -- usually, but not always, the States of Guernsey
