Today a feudal parliament is expected to make the first fundamental changes to its constitution in over 400 years. Until now members have been chosen by heredity or because they owned the tracts of land that the hereditary seats were founded on. In recent years a few elected members had been admitted to the parliament which governs the land in conjunction with a hereditary ruler. So backward is it that divorce was only permitted in 2003. Women are not allowed to drive cars.
At an extraordinary meeting they are expected to abolish all the hereditary seats and convert the parliament into a fully elected one. The country has not been invaded and the new arrangements imposed by the USA, rather they have been persuaded to do so by pressure from the European Union.
So where is this new bastion of democracy? One of those pesky Arab emirates in the Middle East? Not quite, a lot nearer. In fact the parliament concerned is the Chief Pleas of the island of Sark, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, France. These have a unique place, being owned by the English crown as Duke of Normandy, the first to hold the joint titles was of course William the Bastard after the invasion of 1066.
In the 13th Century, they were retained by King John when the rest of Normandy was lost to the French. In 1565, Queen Elizabeth I granted Sark to Helier de Carteret as a ‘fief haubert’ and the island’s unique status has remained the same ever since. Today, Sark holds the last remaining feudal constitution in the Western world; neither part of the United Kingdom nor European Union, yet not a sovereign state either. The Seigneur holds the island from the Monarch in perpetuity, and governs in conjunction with Chief Pleas, the island’s parliament.
The hereditary ruler does not have to be a male Seigneur but can be a female Dame. The island is about three miles long and about half that wide. Cars are banned, the only mechanical transport allowed are tractors which are used for several transport purposes including pulling the island’s fire engine. Signs are not expressed in miles or kilometres but the time it will take you to walk.
The UK provides a foreign relations function for all the Channel Islands. This means that Sark is required to comply with certain treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights. The 440 year old constitution with its feudal parliament conflicts with that so the change (click “Latest Updates” for today’s agenda) has been forced on Sark as part of the UK’s full compliance with the EU acquis.
