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An informal referendum on the composition of the Chief Pleas was held in Sark on 23 February 2006. The poll was organised by Geoff Gurden, ahead of a meeting of the Chief Pleas, to ascertain support for a fully elected legislature. Voters supported a directly elected Chief Pleas, with 88 (53.3%) selecting this option.
Background
editSark maintained much of its feudal system of government well after reform of the governments of the rest of the Channel Islands. The Chief Pleas was comprised of holders of the original Quarantaine Tenements – forty including that of the Seigneur of Sark – and twelve deputies elected by the remaining islanders.[1] These forty tenements were created for the defence of the island, with each tenent providing one armed man.[2]
In 1993, David and Frederick Barclay purchased the tenement of Brecqhou. They desired the replacement of Sark's existing system of government with a fully elected parliament, calling the Seigneur a "medieval dictator".[3][4] Reform became a pressing matter following a later discontinued case in the European Court of Human Rights challenging inheritance by agnatic primogeniture, which illustrated that much of Sark's legal framework was susceptible to challenge under European human rights law.[5][6][7]
- ↑ Hooke, Wilfred (1961). The Channel Islands. London: Robert Hale Limited. p. 74.
- ↑ Barclay & Ors R (on the application of) v The Seigneur of Sark & Anor [2008] EWHC 1354 (Admin), [2008] 3 WLR 867 (18 June 2008)
- ↑ Taylor, Jerome (11 December 2008). "European feudalism finally ends as Sark heads for democracy". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ "Sark women get the right to inherit". On this day in Guernsey. 24 November 1972. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ Jason, Singer (11 October 2005). "On Island of Sark, Twin British Brothers Joust With Feudalism - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ Barclay & Ors R (on the application of) v The Seigneur of Sark & Anor [2008] EWHC 1354 (Admin), [2008] 3 WLR 867 (18 June 2008)
- ↑ Barclay v. the United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, application no. 35694/97.