Questioning the current status of the British Crown Dependencies

Abstract

The status of the Crown Dependencies’ (CDs) is the result of a firmly consolidated historical and political relationship with the United Kingdom. In this sense, certainly, there is no official request for a status change neither by these territories nor by the UK. Moreover, there has never been a questioning of their status by the international community. Hence, there has been no need to discuss the change of these territories’ status until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit). In this sense, Brexit has set a precedent for future decisions on the international stage, which could have even more serious consequences for these territories. Likewise, the CDs have expressed their wish to continue developing their self-government, particularly at the international level. A simple updating of their current status could be enough to address some of their requests and needs, but there are other issues that cannot be solved by a simple update and entail a change of status. Now that the UK’s post-Brexit strategy is precisely a ‘global Britain’, it is necessary to address the future and place of these territories in a global UK. This paper proposes a possible alternative to the current status, which better adapts to the UK’s new challenges of the 21st century, particularly in the post-Brexit age. At the same time, the proposed status in this paper preserves their legal peculiarities, handles all their requests, and respects their historical ties with the British Crown.