The

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the ...

are a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, with a population of about 50. The politics of the islands takes place in a framework of a

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...

dependency, whereby the Mayor is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

. The territory's constitution is the Local Government Ordinance of 1964. In terms of population, the Pitcairn Islands is the smallest democracy in the world. The government's administrative offices are in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Executive branch

, King ,

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, (None) , 8 September 2022 , - ,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

(non-) ,

Iona Thomas Iona Thomas , is a British diplomat who serves as the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and the Governor of Pitcairn. Thomas did a bachelor’s in literae humaniores at Oxford University and a master's in economics at the London School ...

, (None) , 9 August 2022 , - ,

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

, Lindsy Thompson , (None) , August 2018 , - ,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, Simon Young , (None) , 1 January 2023 The King is represented by the Governor of the Pitcairn Islands, who is the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

High Commissioner to

. A non-resident Commissioner, appointed by the Governor, serves as the Governor's Representative to the territory. The Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the island as well as for its economic regeneration, and also serves as the liaison between the Governor and the Island Council. As both the Governor and the Commissioner do not live on the island, its daily affairs have since 1999 been taken care of by the mayor of Pitcairn. The Island Magistrate is appointed by the Governor. The Chairman of the Internal Committee is an elected official. Until 30 October 2004, the mayor was

Steve Christian Steven Raymond Christian (born 26 June 1951) is a politician, convicted sex offender and child rapist from the Pitcairn Islands. He was mayor of the islands from 1999 until 2004, when he was removed from office after being found guilty in the ...

; after his rape conviction on 24 October 2004, Christian was dismissed (after refusing to resign). His sister Brenda Christian was selected by the Island Council to be mayor for November and December 2004, until an election was held.

Jay Warren Jay Calvin Warren (born 29 July 1956) is a political figure from the Pacific territory of the Pitcairn Islands. Political roles Jay Warren was elected mayor of the last remaining British dependency in Oceania in the general election held on 1 ...

was elected on 15 December 2004. The island

is elected by popular vote for a three-year term. The first elected female mayor was

Charlene Warren-Peu Charlene Evelyn Dolly Warren-Peu (born 9 June 1979)Who Are the Pitcairners?

in 2020.

Attorney General of the Pitcairn Islands

The Attorney General of the Pitcairn Islands is appointed under Section 35 of the Pitcairn Islands Constitution and serves as the principal legal adviser to the government of Pitcairn for a set term. Initially, the Attorney General was referred to as the Legal Adviser. The Attorney General's powers and responsibilities include handling criminal matters, drafting Pitcairn ordinances, and revising and publishing any laws that pertain to the country.

Legislative branch

The Pitcairn Islands have a unicameral Island Council (10 seats: the Mayor and the Chairman of the Island Council both hold membership ''ex officio''; 4 elected by popular vote; 1 co-opted by the Chairman and the 4 other elected members; 2 appointed by the Governor including the Island Secretary ''(ex officio)''; the tenth seat is reserved for a Commissioner (non-resident) who liaises between the Council and the Governor. Except for the Mayor, who has a three-year term, and the Island Secretary, whose term is indefinite, members serve one-year terms. Elections are held every two years for councillors and deputy mayor and every three years for the mayor. Before a change in the Constitution, elections were held every year on 24 December. There are no political parties on the islands.

Judicial branch

*Island Court: the island magistrate, appointed by the Governor for a three-year term, usually presides over the court; however there have been several non-resident magistrates over the last five years. These magistrates were appointed as part of the judicial structure set up for the purposes of the Pitcairn sexual assault trials. *

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

: while Pitcairn law has made provision for a Supreme Court for a number of years, no judges were appointed to it and it never sat. However, the Court was activated as part of the constitutional and judicial arrangements put in place for the trial referred to above. *Court of Appeal: unlike the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal is a recent creation. It was established by an

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

in 2000 in preparation for the above trial. Allowance has also been made for both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal to sit either in the islands or at such other country or place as may be permitted by any law. In practice, the Supreme Court has sat both on Pitcairn itself and in

, while the Court of Appeal has only sat in New Zealand. * Privy Council: the Privy Council is the final court of appeal for Pitcairn. While some appellate jurisdiction may previously have existed (through

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

), appeals to the Privy Council were formally permitted by an

issued in 2000. The members of the Pitcairn judiciary are all New Zealanders – as are almost all of the lawyers admitted to the Pitcairn Bar – and are all either current or former members of the judiciary or legal profession (in the case of the magistrates) in that country. Currently, the members of the judiciary are: *Chief Justice:

Charles Blackie Charles Stuart Blackie is a New Zealand judge who is currently the Chief Justice of the Pitcairn Supreme Court and is also a judge of the District Courts of New Zealand. He is a former Commander in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Rese ...

. *President of the Court of Appeal: John Henry. *Judges of the Court of Appeal: Sir Ian Barker,

Paul Neazor Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo P ...

. *Judges of the Supreme Court: Jane Lovell-Smith, Russell Johnson. Additionally, several magistrates have been appointed from amongst the ranks of the senior members of the legal profession in New Zealand. The Pitcairn Public Prosecutor – Simon Moore (also the Crown Solicitor at Auckland) and

Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

–

Paul Dacre Paul Michael Dacre (; born 14 November 1948) is an English journalist and the former long-serving editor of the British tabloid the ''Daily Mail''. He is also editor-in-chief of DMG Media, which publishes the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Mail on Sunda ...

– were also appointed. According to a 2012 report, there are no lawyers in the Pitcairn Islands. There has been a Public Defender serving the islands since 2003.

References

External Links