EU forces feudalism to end on Channal Islands.

[Oerdin]

It's kind of sad in a way; the people of Sark liked their ancient feudal system so much that they twice rejected EU orders to change it since 2000. So much for one of the last hold outs of the medieval system.

Sark agrees switch to democracy
Politicians in the Channel Island of Sark have agreed to end the island's feudal system of government which has been in place for the past 450 years.

Governing body, the Chief Pleas, has approved new reform laws which will lead to the introduction of a 28-member elected chamber.

Elections under the new constitution will be held in December.

Sark, 80 miles off the south coast, had been governed by a mix of landowners and elected people's deputies.

'Great relief'

There was pressure on Sark to reform its feudal constitution to comply with the European Human Rights laws and other international obligations.

Owners of the island's 40 tenements (divisions of land) currently have an automatic seat in the Chief Pleas, and islanders chose 12 people's deputies.

The first new assembly of Chief Pleas will take place in January next year.

Deputy Paul Armorgie said: "It's a great relief.

"We have been trying to achieve this for 10 years and now a line has been drawn.

"Sark is finally moving from feudalism to democracy."

In its day, Sark had a very democratic system. The settlers ran the island
Seneshal Lt Col Reg Guille
Sark, which is only 3 miles (4.8km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4k) wide, has a resident population of about 600.

Its government can directly trace its roots back to Queen Elizabeth I, who once granted the ruling "Seigner" a fief on the tiny Channel Island.

The unelected descendents of 40 families brought in to colonise Sark, after the French abandoned it in 1553, have governed life on the island ever since.

But its feudal system of government started coming under pressure in 2000 in the light of human rights laws.

Two proposals for reform were rejected in 2005 and 2007 until Thursday night's historic agreement.

Mr Armogie said: "Ten years ago the mood on the island was that no change was wanted.

"But Sark had to face up to its international obligations and it became clear that Sark had to move on."

"It is the passing of an era."

'Very successful'

Seneshal Lt Col Reg Guille, who acts as a presiding officer of the Chief Pleas, said the original settlers of the island would be "horrified" at the change.

He said: "The system of government has proven for our small community to be a very successful way to manage our own affairs.

"They (the original settlers) would not understand our modern democracy.

"In its day, Sark had a very democratic system. The settlers ran the island."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Sark is seeking to reform its feudal constitution in order to make it comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and other international obligations.

"The UK is responsible for ensuring that Sark's constitution meets those requirements and the UK is vulnerable to challenge if it does not."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/guernsey/7258214.stm

[Zkribbler]

(At first, I thought this was about Santa Catalina.)

Today Sark; tomorrow, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick

[LordShiva]

WTF is a Channal Island?

[Oerdin]

Channel.

[chequita guevara]

Sark

[Sandman]

It looks like the world map from an RPG.

[LordShiva]

Sark

[C0ckney]

if it ain't broke then why fix it.

[Oerdin]

The EU standard is fix everything whither it needs it or not.

[Riesstiu IV]

The EU is full of Killjoys.

[Oerdin]

It wasn't an ideal system but it was broadly democratic (well, the feudal lord wasn't exactly elected but other posts were) and it seems like people enjoyed living in a pre-industrial farm based society which had survived for hundreds and hundreds of years.

[Krill]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
The EU is full of Killjoys.

Kilroys more like.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Sandman
It looks like the world map from an RPG.

QFT.

[Colon™]

Originally posted by Oerdin
It's kind of sad in a way; the people of Sark liked their ancient feudal system so much that they twice rejected EU orders to change it since 2000. So much for one of the last hold outs of the medieval system.

Eh?

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Sark is seeking to reform its feudal constitution in order to make it comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and other international obligations.

The ECHR isn't the EU. It has never been the EU. If the UK doesn't like its implications it shouldn't have been a co-founder of the Council of Europe.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Oerdin
It's kind of sad in a way; the people of Sark liked their ancient feudal system so much that they twice rejected EU orders to change it since 2000. So much for one of the last hold outs of the medieval system.

Don't worry for the medieval system, it's alive and well in the middle east.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Sark

i would hate to start a game on a island that small

[Dr Strangelove]

I thought the Channel islands were owned by the UK? Is the UK letting the EU dictate government policies to it?

[pchang]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I thought the Channel islands were owned by the UK? Is the UK letting the EU dictate government policies to it?

The UK agreed to do so as part of a treaty.

[Starchild]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I thought the Channel islands were owned by the UK? Is the UK letting the EU dictate government policies to it?

No. They're part of the Crown but not part of the UK.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

EU Opressors

[Riesstiu IV]

EU? Moar liek EPoo!

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Sark

I think Sarko has figured out that now that he's President he can grab women's tits without them objecting. I doubt he'd be marrying a former super model either if he wasn't President.

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Sandman
It looks like the world map from an RPG.

It does dosen't it?

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave
EU Opressors

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I thought the Channel islands were owned by the UK? Is the UK letting the EU dictate government policies to it?

at above considering what Colon said.

Originally posted by Colon�

The ECHR isn't the EU. It has never been the EU. If the UK doesn't like its implications it shouldn't have been a co-founder of the Council of Europe.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Oerdin


I think Sarko has figured out that now that he's President he can grab women's tits without them objecting. I doubt he'd be marrying a former super model either if he wasn't President.

It's good to be the King

[Colon™]

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008
A Revolution Not Televised
By Eben Harrell

No monarchs were beheaded, but the upheaval on the tiny, weather-beaten English Channel island of Sark was nothing short of revolutionary. For 400 years, the 600-strong community, which has no paved roads, cars or streetlights, has remained Europe's last bastion of feudalism. A powerful overlord appointed the island's judiciary and gave his consent for each meeting of the government, a 52-seat parliament called the Chief Pleas, in which a majority of the seats was reserved for landowners.

That changed on Jan. 16, when the Chief Pleas passed a law mandating universal suffrage and ending the practice of reserving seats for the landed gentry. It also agreed to limit the role of the island's master, known in Sark's French-English patois as the Seigneur, and to make its constitution a democracy.

A historic event, perhaps, but not exactly 1789 all over again. What motivated the Chief Pleas was not the islanders' democratic fervor, but pressure from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. After protracted debate, Sark decided last year to add more elected seats to the legislature, but insisted that a certain number would still be reserved for landowners. In a recent poll, only 56% of Sarkese backed democracy.

On Jan. 13, however, British Lord Chancellor Jack Straw sent a letter to Sark demanding it move to full democracy, calling the proposed compromise inconsistent with "modern democratic principles." Sark is a dependent of the English monarchy, and its laws require approval by the British government.

The primary force for change has been reclusive billionaire twins, Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay, who live in a castle on a private island within Sark's territorial waters. The brothers, who own London's Ritz hotel and the Daily Telegraph newspaper, have used the European Court of Human Rights to help overturn a local inheritance law requiring property to be left only to the oldest male heir and also the "treizième tax," which dedicated one-thirteenth of the sale price of property to the Seigneur.

The Barclays, through their lawyer Gordon Dawes, told TIME that their ultimate goal is democratic reform on Sark, but the pair is also in open conflict with the Seigneur, 80-year-old Michael Beaumont, whom Dawes calls a "dictator ruling through deference." Beaumont supports full democracy and has called for his powers to be diminished, but the Chief Pleas has resisted. The Seigneur remains a popular figure, whose family has governed the island since 1852.

The Barclays, meanwhile, have recently bought up as much as a fifth of the island, including three of its six hotels, raising fears in the tourism-reliant community that the pair are becoming overlords themselves.

Supporters of the status quo insist their system is fundamentally fair. "There are many places where the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations could focus on promoting democracy rather than this small community that has not committed war or persecution, and has lived happily on its own for hundreds of years without any trouble," says Reginald Guille, the Chief Pleas' speaker of the house.

To portray Sark as a rural idyll untouched by modernity would be inaccurate, however. In the 1990s, British newspapers reported that up to 40% of Sark's inhabitants held directorships of companies. In a scheme dubbed the "Sark Lark", many residents sold their names or addresses to companies eager to take advantage of Sark's zero taxes and regulation-free environment. Sark is now regulated by a financial-services authority based on the nearby island of Guernsey.

"All I can say is that we do things differently," says landowner and Chief Pleas member Elisabeth Perrée, explaining why she opposes full democracy.

Clearly, she is not alone in her lack of enthusiasm. After its historic vote, the Chief Pleas did nothing to celebrate. It simply moved on to the next item on its agenda: Should electric bicycles be allowed on the island?

European Court of Human Rights = Council of Europe

I'd say the Barclay brothers are to blame for going to court.

[Oerdin]

Off with their heads!

[jkp1187]

Ah, Europe. Always out in front, taking the tough stands.

Oh -- how's that embargo against the TRNC working out?

[villabarthanes]

America. This is how you overthrow undemocratic goverments!

Europe

[Kuciwalker]