axisopk.blogg.se - What are the british commonwealth countries

Though they are not full members of the Commonwealth they may be considered to be "part of the Commonwealth" or "within the Commonwealth". The Crown Dependencies, namely The Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey) and the Isle of Man, have a unique constitutional status in that they are neither part of the United Kingdom, nor overseas territories.

Sovereign Base Areas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus).

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (including Gough Island Dependency).

The Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie & Oeno Islands.

More information about the history, constitution and governance of the British Overseas Territories can be found in Halsbury's Laws of England, volume 13 on Commonwealth. The fourteen British Overseas Territories are listed below. Though not dealt with specifically in this research guide, researchers may find it useful to know about countries which are not Commonwealth members but which had, or continue to have, a relationship with the United Kingdom.īritish Overseas Territories (formerly known as British Dependent Territories and before that Crown Colonies) and the overseas or dependent territories of other members of the Commonwealth are not members of the Commonwealth themselves but can be said to be "part of the Commonwealth" or "within the Commonwealth".

That said, each member country has its own unique history, constitution and legal system and for this reason it is important not to over emphasise the similarities but rather to consider the legal system of each country a distinct and separate entity.īritish Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies which are not Commonwealth members The Commonwealth, as an organisation, does not create any law in its own right, but because of the shared colonial history of the majority of members, similarities exist in many of their legal systems and legal literature. In fact, Commonwealth members have a range of constitutions including republics and monarchies. Whilst all members of the Commonwealth recognize His Majesty King Charles III as Head of the Commonwealth, he is Head of State in only 15 member countries, including the UK, Canada and Australia. A list of members is available on the Commonwealth website at and a table of members listed by region is provided below: The Commonwealth covers around one-third of the world's population. Many members of the Commonwealth, though not all, are former British territories and were part of Britain's colonial Empire. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries.