Introduction:
There is much discussion in the private client community about
what a future Labour Government might seek to introduce by way of
fresh taxes and whether a Labour Government may seek to legislate
directly in respect of the Channel Islands. Alongside that, the
concern of clients seems to be the possibility of capital controls
being imposed to prevent capital leaving the sterling area. The
question we are asked is "Can Westminster legislate
directly for Guernsey?". This briefing seeks to provide
some constitutional insights into that question.
The Present Day:
In recent times the question of whether Guernsey and the other
Crown Dependencies have autonomous capacity to govern their own
domestic affairs has come to the fore. This is a substantive
academic issue in its own right but the purpose of this note is to
clarify the key facts and issues surrounding this topic.
