Politics of the Falkland Islands

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Politics of the Falkland Islands
Constitution Constitution of the Falkland Islands
The Crown Monarch King Charles III
Government Governor Alison Blake Executive Council Chief Executive Andy Keeling Financial secretary Pat Clunie Attorney General Simon Young
Legislature Speaker Keith Biles Constituencies Legislative Council
Judiciary Supreme Court Court of Appeal of the Falkland Islands Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Elections Elections in the Falkland Islands 1949 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1971 1976 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 Next Referendums in the Falkland Islands 1986 2001 2011 2013 2020 By-elections Politicians
Other Sovereignty dispute Outline History
Other countries
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The politics of the Falkland Islands takes place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary representative democratic dependency as set out by the constitution, whereby the Governor exercises the duties of head of state in the absence of the monarch and the Chief Executive is the head of the Civil Service, with an elected Legislative Assembly to propose new laws, national policy, approve finance and hold the executive to account.

The Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the southern Atlantic Ocean, are a self-governing British overseas territory. Executive power is exercised on behalf of the King by an appointed Governor, who primarily acts on the advice of the Executive Council. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The military defence and foreign policy of the islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. No political parties exist on the islands currently and so Members stand as independents, however the governmental and legal proceedings very closely resemble British standards.

Following the Falklands War in 1982, Lord Shackleton published a report on the economy of the Falkland Islands which recommended many modernisations. On 1 January 1983 the Falkland Islanders gained British citizenship under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, and on 3 October 1985 the Constitution of the Falkland Islands was established. A new constitution came into force on 1 January 2009 which modernised the Chapter on fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, embedding self-determination in the main body of the constitution. The new constitution also replaced the Legislative Council with the Legislative Assembly, and better explained the role of the Governor and the Chief Executive.^[1]