Editing Law of the United Kingdom (section)

==Related legal systems==

After centuries of settlement and conquest, the United Kingdom has legal relationships to many territories outside its borders. These include [[sovereign state]]s that do and do not share a monarch and judicial institutions with the UK, and [[dependent territory|dependencies]] where the UK government, parliament, and crown do retain some power.

===Independent sovereign states with British legal history===

Most [[List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom|countries that have gained independence from the UK]] are no longer subject to the British parliament, monarchy, or courts. They consist of a mix of [[republic]]s (for example [[Ireland]] and [[India]]) and local [[monarchies]] (for example [[Kuwait]] and [[Brunei]]) with no relationship to the royal [[House of Windsor]]. The colonies and possessions were created and separated from the UK under a wide variety of circumstances, resulting in a spectrum of influence of British law in domestic law.

At the strongly influenced end of the spectrum, for example, is the [[United States]]. The [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] explicitly applied [[English Common Law]] to all British overseas colonies, and affirmed some degree of local law-making. The [[American Revolutionary War]] resulted in a unilateral separation recognized by the [[Peace of Paris (1783)]], but the English system continued to be used as the basis for court decisions.

Over time, it was modified by the [[United States Constitution]], state constitutions, and federal and state court decisions particular to their own jurisdictions. Colonial land grants of the British kings still remained relevant in some later boundary disputes of the former [[Thirteen Colonies]], though adjudicated by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. Some parts of the United States not subject to British rule have laws based on other traditions, such as French civil law in [[Louisiana]], and Native American law in [[Tribal sovereignty in the United States|areas of tribal sovereignty]].

Some countries were granted independence by an act of the UK parliament (for example, the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]]) and have likewise diverged from UK law either under or after British rule. An example at the other end of the spectrum, despite occasional control for geopolitical reasons, British law had little impact on the [[law of Afghanistan]].

===Independent sovereign states with shared institutions===

By special agreement, the UK-based [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] acts as the court of highest appeal for three former colonies which are now republics ([[Mauritius]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], and for constitutional rights, [[Kiribati]]) and has a special consultation agreement with the [[Sultan of Brunei]].

===Commonwealth realms===

[[Commonwealth realm]]s, for example [[Australia]], are former colonies that are now sovereign states fully independent of the UK parliament. However, they share other legal institutions with the UK, to varying degrees.

[[King Charles III]] remains the [[constitutional monarch]] of each realm in its own right, and retains a limited set of powers ([[royal prerogative]]) to be exercised either personally or through a local [[viceroy]]. Most powers are irrevocably delegated to a parliament more or less modelled on the [[Westminster system]].

Crimes in Commonwealth realms are prosecuted in the name of the crown, and the crown remains the notional arbiter of disputes. In some realms appeals may be directed to the monarch as a last resort. Adjudication of these appeals is delegated to [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]], which draws judges from the UK and across the Commonwealth. In other realms, a domestic court has been made the highest court of appeal. See {{section link|Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Overseas jurisdiction}} for full list.

The "Imperial" Privy Council based in England advises the shared monarch on the use of [[royal prerogative]]s and parliament-authorized powers in the form of [[Orders in Council]], and can also issue its own delegated [[Orders of Council]]. In some countries, a domestic council performs this function, namely:
* [[Federal Executive Council (Australia)]]
* [[King's Privy Council for Canada]]
* [[Executive Council of New Zealand]]

Similar to other former colonies, Commonwealth realms also share a common legal history with the UK. For example, Canada underwent a long period of patriation of its constitution, beginning with the [[Constitution Act, 1867]] and ending with the [[Constitution Act, 1982]]. Like their southern neighbours, the Proclamation of 1763 extended English Common law to all the Canadian colonies, including [[Nova Scotia]] (which being Scottish might have operated under [[Scots law]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marshall Decision Nova Scotia Legal System|url=http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/Hty_Sct/Hty_Law.html|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.chebucto.ns.ca}}</ref> [[French civil law]] was later re-applied to [[Quebec]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Virtual Law Office: Royal Proclamation of 1763|url=http://www.bloorstreet.com/200block/rp1763.htm|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.bloorstreet.com}}</ref>

===Crown Dependencies===
{{further|Law of the Isle of Man|Law of Jersey|Law of Guernsey|Alderney#Law|Sark}}

The [[Channel Islands]] are held by the British Monarch by virtue of inheriting the [[feudal]] title of [[Duke of Normandy]]. These were never part of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, or the United Kingdom. Most of the historical [[Duchy of Normandy]] is on the European continent and was conquered by France. The [[Isle of Man]] is held by the British Monarch by virtue of inheriting the feudal title of [[Lord of Mann]]. It was previously ruled by Norway, England, and Scotland, before the feudal rights were purchased from Scottish dukes, after English-Scottish unification, by the United Kingdom in 1765. Due to local opposition, it was never merged into England as previously planned, and remains a distinct possession of the monarchy.

Each jurisdiction has a locally elected parliament with broad but not unlimited autonomy, which like the UK parliament requires royal assent to pass laws. The British monarchy retains responsibility for defence, citizenship law, and foreign affairs of the dependencies, and has delegated these responsibilities to the UK government and Parliament. The UK parliament generally acts in consultation or gains the consent of the local government when passing laws that have effect in the dependencies. The islands of [[Alderney]] and [[Sark]] in the [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]] have their own parliaments, and the parliament of Guernsey generally only extends Bailiwick-wide laws to them with their consent.

Residents of the dependencies do not have representation in the UK Parliament. UK law does not apply to the dependencies unless explicitly stated or clearly intended,<ref>[https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/law-society-library/research-guides/how-to-find-isle-of-man-and-channel-islands-law How to find Isle of Man and Channel Islands law]</ref> and such laws are almost always executed by the monarch in the form of an [[Order in Council]]. This constitutional arrangement was tested when the Isle of Man, supply base for [[Radio Caroline]], rejected the [[Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967]], but the legislation was extended to the island anyway by an Order in Council. This resulted in some protests and talk of independence in the Manx legislature, but no consequential action.<ref>{{cite web |title=Isle of Man Constitutional Crisis |url=http://www.offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk/page971.html |publisher=Offshore Radio Museum}}</ref> For centuries, UK laws have been considered to override local legislation, but since the 1980s, the Manx [[Staff of Government Division]] have asserted the two are co-equal.

Legal cases may be appealed to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]. Residents are treated the same as residents of the UK for the purposes of [[British nationality law]], though local governments control local immigration and employment. Prior to Brexit this made citizens of the British dependencies EU citizens, but the exchange of people and goods with the EU and UK was subject to [[Special member state territories and the European Union#Former special territories|special arrangements]].

===British Overseas Territories===
{{main|British Overseas Territories}}

Though not considered internal to the boundaries of United Kingdom, the UK maintains control over British Overseas Territories. Unlike Commonwealth realms, BOTs fall within the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom]]. The [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] is the court of final appeal. Three of the BOT are uninhabited, and [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] is military property; in these places, the UK government rules directly and on all matters.

The inhabited British Overseas Territories do not have representation in the UK parliament, and are thus on the [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories]]. Gibraltar, prior to Brexit, was the only BOT which was a part of the European Union, and residents voted for a representative in the European Parliament in the [[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]] district. Prior to Brexit all citizens of British Overseas Territories were EU citizens, even though [[European Union law]] only applied in Gibraltar and the United Kingdom proper.

The inhabited territories each have their own legal system, based largely on English common law, with autonomy varying considerably with the size of the population. For example, [[Bermuda]], Gibraltar, and the [[Falkland Islands]] are autonomously governed by their locally elected parliaments, with the UK responsible only for defence and foreign affairs and granting limited autonomy to local governments to have relations with other countries and international organizations. On the sparsely populated [[Pitcairn Islands]], the representative of the UK government has nearly unlimited power.

[[British nationality law|Citizenship and nationality law]] is governed by the UK parliament. Immigration is controlled by local governments. The UK parliament retains the ultimate legislative power, and ensures [[good governance]].