Since the first settlement of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies the laws applying have been published in book form on three occasions:
- Laws and Ordinances of the Falkland Islands from the settlement of the Colony to the Year 1884.
- A Revised Edition of the Ordinances of the Colony of the Falkland Islands published in 1915 and publishing the Ordinances in force on the 31st December 1913.
- A Revised Edition of the Ordinances of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies was published in 1951. This two-volume work published the relevant law as at 31 December 1950 and highlighted which Ordinances etc. applied in the Dependencies – this version of the laws was brought into force by Proclamation on 12 March 1953.1
Subject to minor exceptions,2 the 1951 consolidation of laws should be treated as the starting point when seeking to identify the current Ordinances applying in the territory.
Notes:
- Following the Dependencies Ordinance 1908 coming into force Falkland Islands laws, including Ordinances designed only to have effect in the Dependencies, were passed and applied to the Dependencies.
- Not all the Ordinances contained in the ‘Revised Edition of the Laws etc.’ published in 1951 applied in the Dependencies. Those that did are marked in the books with an asterix.
[1] For the Dependencies – see Proclamation No2 of 1953
[2] e.g. Emergency Powers dating from World War II