Chief Minister Tony Brown MHK hosted a meeting on Thursday in Douglas with Sir Alan Beith MP, chairman of the Justice Committee of the House of Commons.
Liberal MP and Methodist Local Preacher, Sir Alan was visiting the Island as part of the Justice Committee’s continuing inquiry into how the United Kingdom Government represents the Crown Dependencies internationally, and the role of the Ministry of Justice in managing the UK’s relationship with the dependencies.
The enquiry was established by the UK Government in August 2009 and involves a look at Guernsey and Jersey as well as the Isle of Man. This review is more about how the relationship actually operates than a review of the relationship itself.
The Justice Committee’s website describes the purpose of the review as follows :- The inquiry will focus on:
i) How, in practice, the UK Government represents the Crown Dependencies internationally;
ii) The role of the Ministry of Justice in managing the United Kingdom's relationship with the Crown Dependencies including inter-departmental liaison and coordination; and,
iii) What, if any, changes are required, in terms of either policy or practice in order to improve the Ministry of Justice's management of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies?
The Isle of Man Government made and published a written submission covering those three points to the Justice Committee in October last year.
The Chief Minister commented: ‘I was pleased to welcome Sir Alan Beith to the Island today. His visit has been a useful opportunity to explain the Isle of Man Government’s view of our working relationship with the UK, and discuss various aspects of the relationship. ‘Although not part of the Justice Committee’s remit, I also made clear to Sir Alan the Island’s concerns over the ending of the Reciprocal Health Agreement.’
The written submission made by the Isle of Man Government, and mentioned above, can be found on the Government website at http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/cso/justicecommitteesubmission.pdf
