Politics of The British Virgin Islands

Politics of the British Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979, 1982, 1991, 1994, 2000 and 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Council. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.

A new constitution was made in 2007 (the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007) and came into force after the Legislative Council was dissolved for the 2007 general election.

Read more about Politics Of The British Virgin Islands:  Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, Political Parties and Elections, Judicial Branch, International Organization Participation

Famous quotes containing the words politics of, politics, british, virgin and/or islands:

    ... privacy is ... connected to a politics of domination.
    bell hooks (b. 1955)

    From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.
    Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)

    The House of Lords is the British Outer Mongolia for retired politicians.
    Tony Benn (b. 1925)

    ‘Tis chastity, my brother, chastity.
    She that has that is clad in complete steel,
    And like a quivered nymph with arrows keen
    May trace huge forests and unharbored heaths,
    Infamous hills and sandy perilous wilds,
    Where, through the sacred rays of chastity,
    No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer
    Will dare to soil her virgin purity.
    John Milton (1608–1674)

    Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)