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The British Isles comprise two sovereign states, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and three dependencies of the British Crown,〔 "Government officials must never state or imply that the Crown Dependencies are part of the United Kingdom, or Great Britain or England or act on that assumption."〕〔 7. The Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man are Dependencies of the Crown, with Her Majesty The Queen as Sovereign.2 The Sovereign is represented in each jurisdiction by a Lieutenant Governor. Although they are proud of their British associations, the Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom and are autonomous and self-governing, with their own, independent legal, administrative and fiscal systems. The Island parliaments legislate for themselves. UK legislation and international treaties are only extended to them with their consent. It has been argued that Westminster retains a residual legislative power over the Islands in order to avoid “the impossible position of having responsibility without power”. We are not aware of any example in recent times of such a power being exercised. … Her Majesty the Queen is Sovereign in each of the Crown Dependencies for historical reasons which are different for each Island. In each case, however, she executes her responsibilities for the Crown Dependencies on the advice of her Privy Council and her executive responsibilities are carried out by Her Majesty’s Government. Within HM Government, the Ministry of Justice is the point of contact for the Crown Dependencies, and communications in both directions are passed through its offices. Whilst this inquiry deals with the relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the Crown Dependencies, it is important to realise that their relationship is technically with the Crown and that HM Government’s responsibilities are derived from this fact.〕 Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Ireland is a unitary state and a republic. Since 1998, it shares certain common institutions with Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom, from which it was partitioned in 1921. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and also a unitary state comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Also since 1998, the United Kingdom has devolved significant domestic powers (though differing in extent) to administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Jersey, the Isle of Man, and Guernsey (including its two semi-autonomous territories of Alderney and Sark), are collectively known as the Crown Dependencies; although not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for their defence and international relations on behalf of the British Crown.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Ministry of Justice )〕 In 1998, as part of the Good Friday Agreement, Ireland and the United Kingdom established a number of organisations, including the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the British-Irish Council, the latter being a multilateral body in which both sovereign states, the three devolved administrations of the UK and the three Crown dependencies participate. Additionally, there are numerous relations between the countries in the British Isles, including formal and informal bilateral and multilateral relations between Ireland, the devolved administrations of the UK, and the crown dependencies, as well as shared cultural and economic links. ==History== (詳細はViking incursions into the archipelago in the late first millennium led to Norse control of much of England, coastal islands of modern-day Scotland, the Isle of Man and coastal parts of Ireland. Although the Vikings were routed from Ireland in 1014, England was conquered by Cnut the Great a year later. England was conquered again in 1066 by the Norman descendants of Vikings, who radically transformed the political make-up of England. In 1069, a Norman invasion of Ireland placed Ireland nominally under the overlordship of the English Crown, under license of the Pope. The Normans invaded Scotland from England in 1072 and, although not conquered, Norman influence significantly affected political make up of the kingdom. Norman control also increasingly extended over Wales. Political institutions emerged from this shared control. In 1215, the ''Magna Carta'' placed limits on the power of the king in England and was issued to Ireland in 1216. The document is considered foundational to the constitutional law of the English-speaking world and parts of it are still law in England and Wales and Ireland. In the mid-12th century, the concept of common law developed in England and Ireland, and parliaments began to meet in England, Scotland and Ireland in the 13th century. However, English control over Ireland was unconsolidated and much of the island continued to follow the Gaelic order. Scotland developed unique political institutions and legal system and shared Gaelic traditions with Ireland, though influenced by the Normans. Although English rule was consolidated in Wales, Wales retained its own legal system for civil matters. The Isle of Man, which was formerly under Norse control, and before then under Irish influence, shifted in control between Scotland and England before settling under the overlordship of the King of England in 1399. However, it remained a private fiefdom outside of the Kingdom of England. The bailiwicks Channel Islands also remained politically distinct. These were the remnants of the lands of the Duke of Normandy who took the English throne in 1066. Consequently, they were possessions of the King of England, but remained in the Kingdom of France. It was not until the mid-15th century that they decisively parted from France and became private fiefdoms of the English Crown. In 1535, Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England. This coincided with the King of England being declared also the King of Ireland (in defiance of the Pope). The English set about a process of re-conquering Ireland, including both war and colonisation. The union of the crowns in 1603 of England and Scotland, through the ascension of the Scottish king James VI to the English throne brought about the personal union of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. A full political union of England and Scotland, in the form of the Kingdom of Great Britain, took place through the Acts of Union in 1707. Further Acts of Union in 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland, and created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Efforts to repeal the union in Ireland began almost immediately and beginning in the late 19th century a series of Home Rule bills were proposed in Parliament. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922, with the remainder, Northern Ireland, opting to remain in the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland Act in 1948 ended the constitutional link between Ireland and the British monarch and vested those powers in the President of Ireland as head of state. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Politics in the British Isles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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