I’ll step down if Barclays own too much of Sark, says the Seigneur

SARK Seigneur Michael Beaumont has said he will resign if Chief Pleas is in a position where it can no longer work democratically.

Speaking on Saturday, he said if such exceptional circumstances occurred he would hand the island back to the Crown.

Mr Beaumont (pictured) said around 30% of Sark was owned by Sir David and Frederick Barclay, and if that reached 60 or 70% he might resign.

‘We are not there yet and I hope we never get there.’
(fromGEP)

throwing his ntoys out of the pram again x

He's got a good point though Thistle.

I thought (silly me) that Sark was part of the Bailiwick and we owned it (Guernsey that is).....where did I go wrong????

I would be suprised if we own Guernsey. We don't own Herm so why should we own Sark? Comes to that why shouldn't the Crown own Gsy.

Handing the Island back to the Crown would be a kick in the teeth for some rich people who may have eyes on a bigger Island and Lord of the Manor.

an interesting article from 1999 in the gaurdian

Fighting feudalism


I have spent £1.75m trying to change this repugnant medieval system, akin to ethnic cleansing

David Barclay
Wednesday 23 June 1999
The Guardian

An historic moment occurred this month on the small Channel island of Sark - or did it? The legislature of the last remaining feudal system in the western world finally supported a motion, after 450 years, for the abolition of primogeniture.

It has taken my family over three years, hundreds and thousands of words and hours of research into Norman, feudal, constitutional and human rights law, involving three law firms, several leading counsel, the home office the foreign and commonwealth office, and £1.75m to try to change a repugnant, medieval system. Primogeniture is akin to ethnic cleansing. It discriminates against sex, gender and equal rights and against all members of the family except the eldest son. As a result, it breaks up families and some of them are left with nothing and have to leave the island of Sark to find work elsewhere.

The Sark parliament (Chief Pleas) has now ruled that people on Sark can bequeath to one of their children, without preference of age or gender - but only to one.

So little has changed. Indeed, landowners are now faced with a major problem of choice. If they regard their children equally, how do they prefer one over the other? All property and freeholds will remain indivisible and discrimination and abuse of human rights will continue.

Sark is run by a feudal lord, the seigneur, who is accountable to no one. He governs by hereditary right. He appoints the seneschal (judge); the prevot (sheriff); the greffier (clerk to the court), and the treasurer. He is also chairman of Chief Pleas and chairman of the planning committee and, as president of the general purposes committee, he advised on the constitutional changes to primogeniture. His parliament is undemocratic and intimidatory. Should there be any doubt as to the application of Sark's laws, the only recent reference book has, conveniently, been written by the seigneur.

Chief Pleas is made up of 12 elected deputies, and 40 unelected members, each of whom takes a seat either through inheritance, or by having purchased one of the 40 tenements (properties). Properties can only be purchased with the feudal lord's consent and payment to him of a 7% tax. This goes into his pocket.

The seigneur, Michael Beaumont, claims to act in the name of the crown. In fact, Beaumont's ancestors came into possession of Sark in 1852, in satisfaction of an unpaid mortgage. The history and constitution of Sark is largely a fabrication, right down to the cannon supposedly used for the defence of the island and given by Elizabeth I, now in the grounds of the seigneurie.

Senior British civil servants, government ministers and home secretaries appear to pay homage to Michael Beaumont. A former home secretary paid an official visit to Sark, but Michael Beaumont displayed his independence and, at the last moment, refused to meet him. The minister, having made the journey to Sark over seven miles of open sea from Guernsey, had to be content with meeting Mrs Beaumont instead, who has no official capacity on the island. Recent visits by current ministers have been more welcome, although they, too, have left with little to show for their arduous journey and no obvious changes.

Sark is used as a haven for international tax evasion, subterfuge and fraud. It has been an accommodation address for nearly 40 years for people avoiding tax in the country of which they are resident, but they never set foot on the island of Sark. In addition, it has been used by companies all over the world in what is now known as the "Sark lark".

The feudal lord and his wife have been directors of more than 200 companies, in Panama, the Isle of Man, the UK and Dublin. There are also a substantial number of islanders, perhaps as many as 20% of the population (although, in fact, it could be double because there is no way of knowing who exactly are nominee directors) who hold many thousands of company directorships around the world.

This wholly irregular procedure goes on in spite of the publication of the British treasury's Edwards report into Channel islands' offshore schemes earlier this year. The fact that the "Sark lark" continues to flourish, with fresh revelations from time to time, proves that the seigneurial system is totally incapable of complying with international law, including European human rights law.

It is easy to understand why it has taken 450 years to change, albeit cosmetically, the feudal law of primogeniture on Sark. The last person who owned the island of Brecqhou, off Sark, tried and fought her case for over six years but, for one reason or another, never got a court hearing. Finally, she was forced to settle on terms grossly unfavourable to her. Justice delayed is justice denied.

The argument used to defend Sark's medieval system is that any change on Sark would affect the islanders' way of life. It does not seem to occur to the British government that it is not the way of life that needs to be changed, rather it is the way the island is administered.

• David Barclay, who owns the island of Brequou off Sark, controls the Scotsman and Sunday Business newspapers

Don't you think Thistle that it is up to the Sark Islanders to decide as to whether they want to change the way their Island is administered ? Not have outsiders come along an impose change upon them.

I am not aware that there were any complaints from the Islanders about the Feudal system. Or was there ?

Read some of the back issues before you make judgements on affairs and people you don't even know or understand .


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