Morris, Philip --- "Deposit Protection Schemes in British Offshore Finance Centres" [2011] ELECD 1050; in Alexander, Kern; Moloney, Niamh (eds), "Law Reform and Financial Markets" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Law Reform and Financial Markets

Editor(s): Alexander, Kern; Moloney, Niamh

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857936622

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Deposit Protection Schemes in British Offshore Finance Centres

Author(s): Morris, Philip

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

8. Deposit protection schemes in
British offshore finance centres
Philip Morris*

INTRODUCTION

The British Isles offshore jurisdictions of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of
Man enjoy a `unique' constitutional status.1 Neither part of the United
Kingdom nor colonies they are British Crown dependencies with near
complete domestic self-government. This is cemented by an historic con-
stitutional convention that prevents the United Kingdom Parliament from
legislating on their internal affairs without first engaging in consultation
with and obtaining the prior consent of the insular authorities. Recent
political concordats2 struck between the insular authorities and the
United Kingdom government further develop this position by granting all
three jurisdictions autonomy to create a separate international identity;
this is expressed in concrete terms by the United Kingdom entering into
formal agreements with supranational institutions and sovereign states.
These arrangements are, however, subject to the undisputed sovereign
right, in technical constitutional law terms, of the United Kingdom
Parliament to legislate for the Crown dependencies, if need be in defi-
ance of their wishes, and an overarching, ill-defined power of unilateral
intervention on grounds of good government. The insular perspective con-
strues the latter narrowly as requiring a serious breakdown of civil order,
but its precise content has never been defined and it is arguably capable


* Independent Researcher.
1 See generally Report of the Royal Commission on the Constitution 1969­73,
Vol I, Cmnd 5460, paras 1347­1348, 1361­1363, 1469 and 1473 (the Kilbrandon
Report)..
2 Department for Constitutional Affairs/States of ...