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The government of theIsle of Man is aparliamentaryrepresentative democracy. TheMonarch of the United Kingdom is also thehead of state of the Isle of Man, and generally referred to as "The King,Lord of Mann".[1] His representative on the island is theLieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, but his role is mostly ceremonial, though he does have the power to grantRoyal Assent (the withholding of which is the same as aveto). Legislation of the Isle of Man defines "the Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom".[2]
The Isle of Man is not part of theUnited Kingdom, and the island has no representation in theUKparliament. As aCrown Dependency, it is not subordinate to the government of the United Kingdom. The UK government, however, is responsible for defence andisland's external affairs and could intervene in the domestic affairs of the island under its residual responsibilities to guarantee "good government" in allCrown dependencies.Manx people areBritish citizens underUK law — there is no separate Manx citizenship.
Thelegislative power of the government is vested in a bicameral (sometimes called tricameral) parliament calledTynwald (said to be the world's oldestcontinuously existing parliament), which consists of the directly-electedHouse of Keys and the indirectly chosenLegislative Council. After every House of Keysgeneral election, the members of Tynwald elect from amongst themselves theChief Minister of the Isle of Man, who serves as thehead of government for five years (until the next general election).Executive power is vested in the Lieutenant Governor (asGovernor-in-Council), the Chief Minister, and the Isle of Man'sCouncil of Ministers. Thejudiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Douglas, the largest town on the Isle of Man (now a city), is itscapital andseat of government, where the Government offices and the parliament chambers (Tynwald) are located.
TheHead of State is theLord of Mann, which is a hereditary position held by theBritish monarch (currentlyKing Charles III). TheLieutenant Governor is appointed by the King, on the advice of the UK'sSecretary of State for Justice, for a five-year term and nominally exercises executive power on behalf of the King. TheChief Minister is elected by the House of Keys (formerly byTynwald) following every House of Keys general election and serves for five years until the nextgeneral election.
When acting as Lord of Mann, the King acts on the advice of theSecretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom having prime responsibility as Privy Counsellor for Manx affairs.[3]
The executive branch under the Chief Minister is referred to as "the Government" or the "Civil Service", and consists of theCouncil of Ministers, nine Departments, ten Statutory Boards and three Offices. Each Department is run by a Minister who reports directly to the Council of Ministers. This does not include anymilitary positions, as defence is the responsibility of theUnited Kingdom.
The Manxlegislature isTynwald, which consists of twochambers or "branches". TheHouse of Keys has 24 members, elected for a five-year term in two-seatconstituencies by the whole island. The minimum voting age is 16. TheLegislative Council has eleven members: thePresident of Tynwald, theBishop of Sodor and Man, theAttorney General (non-voting) and eight other members elected by the House of Keys for a five-year term, with four retiring at a time. (In the past they have often already been Members of the House of Keys, but must leave the Keys if elected to the Council.) There are also joint sittings of the Tynwald Court (the two branches together).
In the 2021 Manx general election, theManx Labour Party won two seats and theLiberal Vannin Party won one seat; all 21 remaining seats were won by independents.
Most Manx politicians stand for election as independents rather than as representatives of political parties. Though political parties do exist, their influence is not nearly as strong as in the United Kingdom. Consequently, much Manx legislation develops through consensus among the members of Tynwald, which contrasts with the much more adversarial nature of the BritishParliament.
The largest political party is the Liberal Vannin Party, which promotesliberalism, greater Manx independence and more accountability in Government.
The Manx Labour Party is unaffiliated to the BritishLabour Party.
A political pressure groupMec Vannin advocates the establishment of asovereignrepublic.
TheIsle of Man Green Party, which was founded in 2016, holds two local government seats and promotesGreen politics.
The island also formerly had aManx National Party. There are Manx members in theCeltic League, a political pressure group that advocates greater co-operation between and political autonomy for theCeltic nations.
The UK Parliament has paramount power to legislate for the Isle of Man on all matters, but it is a long-standing convention that it does not do so on domestic ("insular") matters without Tynwald's consent.[4]
Occasionally, the UK Parliament acts against the wishes of Tynwald: the most recent example was theMarine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, which bannedpirate radio stations from operating in Manx waters. Legislation to accomplish this was defeated on its second reading in the House of Keys, prompting Westminster to legislate directly.[5]
The UK has had several disputes with theEuropean Court of Human Rights about the Isle of Man's laws concerningbirching (corporal punishment) in the case ofTyrer v. the United Kingdom, andsodomy.
The lowest courts in the Isle of Man are presided over by theHigh Bailiff and theDeputy High Bailiff, along with layJustices of the Peace. TheHigh Court of Justice consists of three civil divisions and is presided over by aDeemster. Appeals are dealt with by theStaff of Government Division with final appeal to theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council in theUnited Kingdom. The head of the Judiciary is theFirst Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls. The other High and Appeal Court Judges are theSecond Deemster, the Third Deemster and theJudge of Appeal, all of whom are appointed by theLieutenant Governor.
TheCourt of General Gaol Delivery is the criminal court for serious offences (effectively the equivalent of aCrown Court in England). It is theoretically not part of the High Court, but is effectively the criminal division of the court. The Second Deemster normally sits as the judge in this court. In 1992, His HonourDeemster Callow passed the last sentence of death in a court in theBritish Islands (which was commuted to life imprisonment).Capital punishment in the Isle of Man was formally abolished byTynwald in 1993 (although the last execution on the island took place in 1872).
