Managing Risk In The Overseas Territories

The UK retains responsibility for 14 overseas territories, 11 of which are permanently populated and opt to remain under British sovereignty. These territories are not constitutionally part of the UK. They have their own constitutions, legal systems and most have a democratically elected government. Most of these territories also share common features, including relative isolation, exposure to disasters and dependence on one or two key industries. The great majority of territory citizens are entitled to full British Citizenship. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office leads overall policy and maintains the main UK presence in the territories. The NAO's last report on this subject was in 1997 (HCP 13, session 1997-98, ISBN 9780102610987). This report reviews subsequent progress. It considers whether UK government departments work effectively in conjunction with territory governments to manage and mitigate risk. Whether there are suitable and sufficient resources available by the UK Government to manage the risk to the UK from its relationship with overseas territories. The report sets out a number of recommendations, including: that other UK government departments should be required to set out their arrangements for dealing with overseas territory issues; the FCO with the support of relevant agencies, such as the Treasury, FSA, SOCA, should develop a strategy to ensure stronger investigative and prosecution capacity; that the FCO needs to make real progress in developing territory administration. The NAO further concludes that while some progress has been made in managing risk, the degree of success in individual territories and across key areas has been mixed.

The United Kingdom retains responsibility for 14 Overseas Territories, 11 of which are permanently populated and which choose to remain under British sovereignty rather than to become independent states. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the lead Department for coordinating UK Government policy for the Territories. The Department for International Development (DFID) coordinates development assistance, focusing on the three Territories of Montserrat, St. Helena and Pitcairn. This report examines the oversight of offshore financial services in the Territories; the balance between UK and Territory funding and responsibilities; and governance and management of the Territories external relations. The FCO aims to strike a balance between maximising the autonomy given to Territories' democratically elected governments, and minimising risks to the UK. The UK has dealt with a wide variety of risks and liabilities in the past, including pension liabilities of an estimated £100 million in Gibraltar and emergency aid of over £250 million to Montserrat after a volcanic eruption on the island. Territories have seen improvements in disaster management, but this needs to accelerate as rising sea levels and global warming add to the existing risks from hurricanes and volcanoes. The FCO is attempting to increase capacity for oversight of Territories' financial services industries, but regulatory standards in most are low. Limited capacity also reduces the ability of Territories to investigate and prosecute money laundering. Standards of governance and financial reporting in the Territories are variable and can fall below standards acceptable in UK local government. Lax financial management can evade departmental controls to protect the UK from risk, although there is stronger fiscal oversight of Territories receiving development aid.

This is the seventh report of the 2007-08 session from the Foreign Affairs Committee (HCP 147-I, ISBN 9780215521477) and focuses on the issue of Overseas Territories. Altogether 45 conclusions and recommendations are set out under the following headings, covering: constitutional relationships; governance; rule of law; human rights; environmental governance; contingent liabilities; sovereignty disputes. Specific recommendations include: that the Committee commends the Government's encouragement of Overseas Territories in reviewing their constitutions and setting out proposals for reform; that Gibraltar's presence on the UN list of non-self-governing territories is an anachronism; that territory governments should be given the opportunity to pass on their opinions of the candidates for Governor before appointments are made; that the FCO should ensure it takes Overseas Territories' interests into account in its relations with the EU; the Committee recommends that the FCO should strongly encourage all Overseas Territories to introduce freedom of information legislation; that the FCO must ensure that judicial decisions in Overseas Territories should not have any interference either from the Governor or the local government; that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender status should be made illegal in all Overseas Territories; the Committee believes the Government has been highly negligent in not carrying out a strategic assessment of Overseas Territories funding requirements for conservation and ecosystem managment; that Governors within Overseas Territories should use reserve powers to deal with irregularities, such as money laundering, in offshore financial services (for a related publication, see HCP 4, session 2007-08 NAO: Managing Risk in Overseas Territories). The Committee states that the Government has acted decisively in some Overseas Territories but in some other cases, has been too hands-off (eg. the corruption allegations on the Turks & Caicos Islands). Also that the choice of Governor for a Territory is crucial. Finally, the Committee deplores any retaliatory measures taken against indivduals who have assisted the Committee. For Volume II, Oral and Written Evidence, see (HCP 147-II, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215521507).

This is a manual of law and practice relating to the 14 remaining British overseas territories: Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands; Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus; Turks and Caicos Islands; and Virgin Islands. Most, if not all, of these territories are likely to remain British for the foreseeable future, and many have agreed modern constitutional arrangements with the British Government. This book provides a comprehensive description of the main elements of their governance in law and practice, and of the constitutional and international status of the territories. This long-awaited second edition provides a comprehensive update on the law governing overseas territories. It reflects the post-Brexit landscape, and covers the Extradition Act 2003 (Overseas Territories) Order 2016 and the Emergency Powers (Overseas Territories) Order 2017. In addition, it explores case law developments from Chagos Islanders v The United Kingdom to the Mauritius case concerning British Overseas Territory waters.

The Government, in consultation with the Territories and other stakeholders, has developed a strategy of re-engagement: strengthening links between the Territories and the UK; strengthening governance; and enhancing support to the Territories. This White Paper sets out priorities for action in terms of defending the Territories; supporting successful economic development; preserving the Territories' rich environmental heritage and addressing the challenges of climate change; making government work better; community issues; and strengthening links with international and regional organisations or other countries. Taking this forward will require a partnership between the UK Government and Territory Governments. The UK wants to strengthen political engagement between Ministers in the UK and the Territories, particularly through the proposed Joint Ministerial Council, and is determined to live up to its responsibilities to the Territories

This book considers the ability of island jurisdictions with financial centres to meet the expectations of the international community in addressing the threats posed to themselves and others by their innocent (or otherwise) facilitation of the receipt of suspect wealth. In the global financial architecture, British Overseas Territories are of material significance. Through their inalienable right to self-determination, many developed offshore financial centres to achieve sustainable economic development. Focusing on Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, and Anguilla, the book concerns suspect wealth emanating from financial crimes including corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, as well as controversial conduct like tax avoidance. This work considers the viability of international standards on suspect wealth in the context of the territories, how willing or able they are to comply with them, and how their financial centres can better prevent receipt of suspect wealth. While universalism is desirable in the modern approach to tackling suspect wealth, a one-size-fits-all approach is inappropriate for these jurisdictions. On critically evaluating their legislative and regulatory regimes, the book advances that they demonstrate willingness to comply with international standards. However, their abilities and levels of compliance vary. In acknowledging the facilitatively harmful role the territories can play, this work draws upon evidence of implication in transnational financial crime cases. Notwithstanding this, the book questions whether the degree of criticism that these offshore jurisdictions have encountered is warranted in light of apparent willingness to engage in the enactment and administration of internationally accepted laws and cooperate with international institutions.

This book examines how sovereignty works in the context of European integration and postcolonialism. Focusing on a group of micro-polities associated with the European Union, it offers a new understanding of international relations in the context of modern sovereignty. This book offers a systematic and comparative analysis of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), the EU and the four affected Member States: UK, France, the Netherlands and Denmark. Contributors explore how states and state-like entities play 'sovereignty games' to understand how a group of postcolonial entities may strategically use their ambiguous status in relation to sovereignty. The book examines why former colonies are seeking greater room to manoeuvre on their own, whilst simultaneously developing a close relationship to the supranational EU. Methodologically sophisticated, this interdisciplinary volume combines interviews, participant observation, textual, legal and institutional analysis for a new theoretical approach to understanding the strategic possibilities and subjectivity of non-sovereign entities in international politics. Bringing together research on European integration and postcolonial theory, European Integration and Postcolonial Sovereignty Games will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, EU studies, Postcolonial studies, International Law and Political Theory.

This volume covers a wide spectrum of governance issues relating to small states in a global context. While different definitions of governance are given in the chapters, most authors associate governance with the setting and implementation of policies aimed at managing a country or territory, and with the related institutional structures and interventions by political actors. Generally, good governance is associated with concepts such as policy effectiveness, accountability, transparency, control of corruption, encouragement of citizens’ voice and gender equality—factors which are, in turn, linked with democracy. What emerges from the book is that the societies of small states are being re-shaped by various forces outside their control, including the globalization process and climate change, rendering their governance ever more complex. These problems are not solely faced by small states, but small country size tends to lead to a higher degree of exposure to external factors. The chapters are grouped into four sections broadly covering political, environmental, social and economic governance. Governance is influenced by many, often intertwined, factors; the division of the book into four parts therefore does not detract from the fact that governance is multifaceted, and such division was based on the primary focus of each particular study and its main disciplinary background. The expert authors have, moreover, used a variety of approaches in the studies, the subject of small states being well suited to scholarly work from different disciplines using qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches to arrive at useful conclusions.