The
Crown Dependencies are possessions of
The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom, as opposed to
overseas territories or
colonies of the
United Kingdom. They comprise the
Channel Island bailiwicks of
Jersey and
Guernsey and the
Isle of Man in the
Irish Sea.
Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union. All three Crown dependencies are members of the British-Irish Council. From 2005, each Crown dependency has a Chief Minister as head of government. However, as they are possessions of the British Crown they are not sovereign nations in their own right, and the power to pass legislation affecting the islands rests ultimately with their own legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council).[1]
These Crown dependencies, together with the United Kingdom, are collectively known as the British Islands. They are treated as part of the United Kingdom for British nationality law purposes. However, they maintain local controls over housing and employment which apply to British citizens without specified connections to that dependency (as well as to non-British citizens).
Each Island has its own separate international vehicle registration (GBG – Guernsey, GBA – Alderney, GBJ – Jersey, GBM – Isle of Man), internet domain (.gg – Guernsey, .je – Jersey, .im – Isle of Man), and ISO 3166-2 codes, first reserved on behalf of the Universal Postal Union (GGY – Guernsey, JEY – Jersey, IMN – Isle of Man) and then added officially by the International Organization for Standardization on 29 March 2006. In addition, since 2008 the Isle of Man has used the aircraft registration M-.
