Appeal fails on Sark human rights

The Chief Pleas will become an elected body in December

A legal bid by billionaires Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay to force a rethink on constitutional reforms in the Channel Island of Sark has failed.

The brothers, who live on the neighbouring island of Brecqhou, said the changes do not go far enough and amount to a violation of human rights.

But a High Court judge refused their application for judicial review.

The Barclays said they would appeal and if necessary go to the European Court of Human Rights.

The 40 landowners and 12 deputies who currently make up Sark's governing body, the Chief Pleas, are due to be replaced by 28 elected members.

The reforms, starting in December, have been approved by the UK Privy Council.

But the brothers challenged the role of two remaining hereditary posts.

Veto 'limited'

They objected that Sark's hereditary seigneur and seneschal will still have an unelected role in government.

They claimed the seigneur is the "effective head of state" and the seneschal "the sole judge".

But Mr Justice Wyn Williams, sitting in London, said neither the seigneur nor the seneschal had the right to vote.

The seigneur's right of veto was strictly limited and the seneschal had no right to speak at meetings of the Chief Pleas except as necessary to discharge his duties.

The judge said the seneschal's dual role "does not mean that he lacks the impartiality and/or independence and/or the appearance thereof" demanded by human rights law.

It was important to note that he was not the only judge on Sark.

The judge also rejected the argument that the prohibition on an alien standing for election to the Chief Pleas was a breach of EC law.

Sark's system of government dates back to 1565 when Queen Elizabeth I granted "letters patent" to the first seigneur to hold the island as a "royal fief".

Since then the seigneur, the seneschal and 40 landowners have had an automatic right to seats on the Chief Pleas. There are also 12 members who are elected every three years.

The self-sufficient, car-free island is just 3 miles (4.8km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4km) wide and has a resident population of about 600.

The only forms of transport permitted are horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, tractors and battery-powered buggies.

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