Description:
About Jersey The Bailiwick of Jersey, the largest and most southerly of the Channel Islands, is a self-governing dependency of the Crown. It has a surface area of 45 square miles and is home to around 105,000 people. The Island sits 85 miles off the south coast of England and 14 miles from the northwest coast of France. Jersey has its own parliament (the States Assembly), laws, courts, currency, and tax system. The relationship between Jersey and the Crown is one that derives from the British sovereign’s capacity as heir to the Dukes of Normandy. The Queen is the Head of State and the Lieutenant-Governor acts as Her Majesty’s personal representative. Jersey is autonomous in all domestic matters. It is not a sovereign state, but is not and has never been part of the United Kingdom, a British colony or a dependent territory. Jersey has also never been a member of the European Union. Instead, during the UK’s membership, the relationship between the Island and the EU was governed by Protocol 3 to the UK’s 1972/73 Treaty of Accession. That Protocol fell away at the end of the UK’s Transition Period in December 2020. Now, Jersey participates in goods and fisheries aspects of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU, which came into effect from January 2021.