Crown Dependencies

The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and together known as the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.

They are closely related to the countries of the United Kingdom (UK), although they are not part of them. They have the status of "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible", rather than sovereign states. As a result, they are not member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, they do have relationships with the Commonwealth and other international organisations, and are members of the British–Irish Council. They have their own teams in the Commonwealth Games.

Each island's political development has been largely independent from, though often parallel with, that of the UK, and they are akin to "miniature states with wide powers of self-government".

As the Crown Dependencies are not sovereign states, the power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with the King-in-Council (though this power is rarely exercised without the consent of the dependencies, and the right to do so is disputed). However, they each have their own legislative assembly, with power to legislate on many local matters with the assent of the Crown (the Privy Council, or, in the case of the Isle of Man, in certain circumstances the lieutenant-governor or, in the case of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Lieutenant-Governor). In Jersey and the Isle of Man, the head of government is called the chief minister. In Guernsey, the head representative of the committee-based government is the President of the Policy and Resources Committee.