Editing Sark (section)

===Recent history===
{{Further|Sark during the German occupation of the Channel Islands}}

In 1844, desperate for funds to continue the operation of the silver mine on the island, the incumbent Seigneur, [[Ernest le Pelley]], obtained [[The Crown#Crown Dependencies|Crown permission]] to mortgage Sark's [[fief]] to local [[privateer]] John Allaire. After the company running the mine went bankrupt, le Pelley was unable to keep up the [[mortgage]] payments and, in 1849, his son [[Pierre Carey le Pelley]], the new Seigneur, was forced to sell the fief to [[Marie Collings]] for a total of £1,383<ref name="Marr">{{cite book |last=Marr |first=James |author-link=James Marr (author) |title=Guernsey people |date=1984 |isbn=0850335299 |publisher=Phillimore }}</ref> (£6,000 less the sum borrowed and an accumulated interest of £616 and 13s).<ref name="Ewen">{{cite book |last1=Ewen |first1=Alfred Harry |first2=Allan Roper |last2=De Carteret |title=The Fief of Sark |publisher=[[Guernsey Press]] |location=[[Guernsey]] |date=1969 |pages=101–102 }}</ref>

During [[World War II]], the island, along with the other Channel Islands, was [[German occupation of the Channel Islands|occupied by German forces]] between 1940 and 1945. [[Sark during the German occupation of the Channel Islands|German military rule on Sark]] began on 4 July 1940, the day after the Guernsey ''[[Commandant|Kommandant]]'' Major Albrecht Lanz and his interpreter and chief of staff Major Maas visited the island to inform the Dame and Seigneur ([[Sibyl Hathaway|Sibyl]] and [[Robert Hathaway]]) of the new regime. [[British Commandos]] raided the island several times. [[Operation Basalt]], during the night of 3–4 October 1942, captured a prisoner, and [[Operation Hardtack (commando raid)|Hardtack 7]] was a failed British landing in December 1943. Sark was finally liberated on 10 May 1945, a full day after Guernsey.

In late August 1990, an unemployed French [[Nuclear physics|nuclear physicist]] named André Gardes, who believed he was the rightful holder of the Seigneur's title, attempted an invasion of Sark armed with a [[semi-automatic weapon]]. The night Gardes arrived, he put up two posters declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. The following day he started a solo foot patrol in front of the manor, in battle-dress, weapon in hand. While Gardes was sitting on a bench waiting for noon to arrive, the island's volunteer [[Constable|''connétable'']] approached the Frenchman and complimented him on the quality of his weapon.<ref name=Liberation>{{cite news|url=http://www.liberation.fr/portrait/1997/12/06/michael-beaumont-70-ans-est-le-seigneur-de-sercq-ile-anglo-normande-deux-richissimes-jumeaux-contest_224306 |title=Michael Beaumont, 70 ans, est le 'seigneur' de Sercq, île anglo-normande. Deux richissimes jumeaux contestent son paisible féodalisme. Le comte de l'île. |trans-title=Michael Beaumont, 70, is the 'lord' of Sark, Channel Island. Two extremely wealthy twins contest its peaceful feudalism. The Earl of the Island. |language=fr |first= Edouard |last=Launet |date=6 December 1997 |work=[[Libération]] |access-date=18 December 2015}}</ref> Gardes changed the gun's magazine to illustrate how it worked, allowing the constable to tackle and arrest him. He was given a seven-day sentence, which he served in Guernsey.<ref name=Liberation/><ref name="Caesar">{{cite news |last=Caesar |first=Ed |date=25 October 2006 |title=Lost world: the last days of feudal Sark |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/lost-world-the-last-days-of-feudal-sark-421545.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9390711.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916043837/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9390711.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 September 2012 |title=Grave affair. (Andre Gardes tries to take over Sark in the Channel Islands) |newspaper=The Economist (US) |date=1 September 1990 |access-date=1 February 2014}} {{small|Subscription required for full article}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2008/09/08/weird-fact-of-the-day-that-you-probably-didnt-know-467808/|title=Weird Fact of the Day (that you probably didn't know)|date=8 September 2008|publisher=[[Metro (website)|Metro.co.uk]]|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref> Gardes attempted this again the following year, but was recognized in Guernsey, arrested, and handed over to the French government.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

====Transition to new system of government====
{{Main|2008 Sark general election}}

Billionaire brothers [[David and Frederick Barclay#Sark politics|David and Frederick Barclay]] had purchased an island within Sark's territorial waters in 1993<ref name=Liberation/> along with the hotels on the island.<ref name="Time Harrell">{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704703,00.html |title=A Revolution Not Televised |first=Eben |last=Harrell |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=17 January 2008 |access-date=18 December 2015}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, the brothers petitioned the [[European Court of Human Rights]] in [[Strasbourg]], France, challenging Sark's inheritance law, which mandated their island be left to David's oldest son. The brothers wanted to will their estate equally to their four children.<ref name="Wall Street Journal – October 2005">{{cite web |url=http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=386652 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=11 October 2005 |via=[[Mathaba News Agency]] |access-date=15 January 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121135126/http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=386652 |archive-date=21 November 2014 |first=Jason |last=Singer |title=On island of Sark, Barclay brothers joust with feudalism}}</ref> In 1999, women in Sark were given equal rights of property inheritance, mainly due to the brothers' influence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grey |first=Paul |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sark-gives-women-equal-right-to-inherit-744017.html |title=Sark gives women equal right to inherit |newspaper=The Independent |date=25 November 1999 |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref>

Until 2008, Sark's parliament (Chief Pleas) was a single chamber consisting of 54 members, comprising the Seigneur, the Seneschal, 40 owners of the tenements and 12 elected deputies. A change to the system was advocated largely by the [[David and Frederick Barclay#Sark and Brecqhou disputes|Barclay brothers]].<ref name="Time Harrell"/> Their premise was that a change was necessary to comply with the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], though it was suggested that their objection was more likely at odds with certain property tax requirements and primogeniture laws affecting their holdings.<ref name="Time Harrell"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bowers |first1=Simon |last2=Pidd |first2=Helen |date=27 June 2012 |title=Minister in row with Barclay brothers over Sark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/28/grandees-sarkees-channel-island-feud |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=28 June 2012}}</ref> The old system was described as [[feudal]] and undemocratic because the tenants were entitled to sit in Chief Pleas as of right.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/9482912 |title=Feudal Sark: Democratic revolution |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=12 July 2007 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

On 16 January 2008 and 21 February 2008, the Chief Pleas approved a law to reform Chief Pleas as a 30-member chamber, with 28 members elected in island-wide elections, one hereditary member (the Seigneur) and one member (the Seneschal) appointed for life.{{efn|The changes were in the ''Reform (Sark) Law, 2008''<ref name="Reform law"/> and the ''Real Property (Transfer Tax, Charging and Related Provisions) (Sark) Law, 2007''}}<ref name="Reform law"/> The [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] approved the Sark law reforms on 9 April 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/guernsey/7339172.stm |title=Sark democracy plans are approved |work=BBC News |date=9 April 2008 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref> The first elections under the new law were held in December 2008 and the new chamber first convened in January 2009.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Harrell |first=Eben |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704703,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119205907/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704703,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 January 2008 |title=A Revolution Not Televised |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=17 January 2008 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/guernsey/7258214.stm |title=Sark agrees switch to democracy |work=BBC News |date=22 February 2008 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

Some Sark residents have complained that the new system is not democratic and have described the powers the new law granted to the Seneschal, an unelected member whose term the new law extended to the duration of his natural life, as imperial or dictatorial. The [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]] had ruled his powers to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights<ref>{{cite BAILII |litigants=R v Secretary of State for Justice |court=EWHC |division=Civ |year=2008 |num=1319 |parallelcite=[2009] 2 WLR 1205 |date=2 December 2008}}</ref> and his powers were subject to further legal challenges on these grounds.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611041746/http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/09/17/sark-seneschal-could-lose-chief-pleas-role/ |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url=http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/09/17/sark-seneschal-could-lose-chief-pleas-role |title=Sark Seneschal could lose Chief Pleas role |last=Mann |first=Nick |website=[[Guernsey Press|This is Guernsey]]}}</ref>

In 2012 the BBC ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' programme reported on local disquiet about the influence on the island of the Barclay brothers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9709000/9709518.stm |title=Sark Islanders fear takeover |newspaper=[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]] |publisher=BBC |date=28 March 2012}}</ref> ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine further illustrated the ongoing and escalating tensions between the Barclays and some of the longer-term residents.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Collins |first=Lauren |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/29/121029fa_fact_collins |title=A Feudal Feud on the Isle of Sark |magazine=The New Yorker |date=29 October 2012 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref> In 2017 ''[[Private Eye]]'' also reported on the situation, following the Barclays' decision to close their vineyard and a number of hotels and shops they own on Sark.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=27 January 2017 |title=A plaintive wine from Sark |magazine=[[Private Eye]] |location=London |publisher=Pressdram}}</ref>

====Dark Sky Community status====
In January 2011, the [[International Dark-Sky Association]] designated Sark as Europe's first Dark Sky Community<ref name="IDA">{{cite web|url=http://www.darksky.org/assets/documents/PR/2011/PRSarkHortobagyFINAL.pdf |title=Sark Island and Hortobágy National Park Earn Dark Sky Status From the International Dark Sky Association|last=Anon |date=31 January 2011 |work=IDA Press release |publisher=International Dark Sky Association |access-date=22 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819151755/http://darksky.org/assets/documents/PR/2011/PRSarkHortobagyFINAL.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2013  }}</ref> and the first Dark Sky Island in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-12323505|title=Sark named world's first dark sky island|last=Anon|date=31 January 2011|work=BBC News Guernsey|publisher=BBC|access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref> This designation recognises that Sark is sufficiently clear of [[light pollution]] to allow naked-eye [[astronomy]]. Although Sark was aided in its achievement by its location, its historic ban on cars and the fact that there is no public lighting, it was also necessary for local residents to make adjustments, such as re-siting lights, to cut the light pollution.

The designation was made in January 2011, following an audit by the IDA in 2010. The award is significant in that Sark is the first island community to have achieved this; other Dark-Sky Places have, up to now, been mainly uninhabited areas, and IDA chairman Martin Morgan-Taylor commended Sark residents for their effort.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ian Sample |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jan/31/sark-first-dark-sky-island |title=Sark is world's first 'dark sky island' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=31 January 2011 |access-date=7 December 2012}}</ref> After the designation was granted, Sark Astronomy Society worked to secure funds for an astronomical observatory on the island. In October 2015 Sark's observatory was officially opened by [[Marek Kukula]], public astronomer from the Royal Observatory Greenwich.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-34495607|title=Sark's astronomical observatory opens|last=Anon|date=11 October 2015|work=BBC News Guernsey|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sark.co.uk/sarks-very-own-observatory-11472/|title=Sark's Very Own Observatory|last=Anon|work=Sark Island|publisher=Sark Tourism|access-date=18 September 2017|date=3 October 2015|archive-date=14 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714055352/http://www.sark.co.uk/sarks-very-own-observatory-11472/|url-status=dead}}</ref>