Barclay brothers lose legal fight over feudal future of Sark

[Tony Gosling]

Who rules Sark? Barclay brothers' Brecqhou power grab exposed (2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcdH6DFfxg0


Barclay brothers lose legal fight over the future of Sark


Telegraph owners lose expensive constitutional battle

<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/tom-harper-8144117.html>TOM 
HARPER     INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR Wednesday 22 October 2014
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/barclay-brothers-lose-legal-fight-over-sarks-governance-9811862.html
Author Biography


The Barclay brothers, billionaire owners of the 
Ritz Hotel and the Daily Telegraph, have lost an 
expensive constitutional battle over the 
governance of the tiny Channel Island of Sark.
In their latest attempt to shape the island’s 
embryonic democracy, Sir David and Sir Frederick 
had taken their fight to the Supreme Court, 
arguing that the “dual role” of the island’s 
chief judge and de facto president were 
incompatible with European human rights laws 
enshrining the independence of the judiciary.
The wealthy 79-year-old twins have been embroiled 
in simmering tensions with elected 
representatives on the island, whose 600 
inhabitants held their first democratic elections 
in 2008 following 400 years of feudalism.
The brothers, who live in a mock Gothic castle on 
the neighbouring island of Brecqhou, have alleged 
there is “no true democracy” on Sark, while 
others have accused them of trying to “turn the 
island into a personal tax haven through propaganda and coercion”.
The complex jurisdictional legal battle ended 
yesterday when lawyers for the Justice Secretary 
Chris Grayling successfully appealed an earlier 
victory in the UK courts by the Barclays.

Sir David Barclay (left) and his twin brother Sir Frederick aft

Sir David Barclay (left) and his twin brother Sir 
Frederick after they received knighthoods (Getty)

The twins had argued that the dual office of 
Seneschal, the president of the island’s 
parliament – known as the Chief Pleas – and the 
chief judge were incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights.
The settlement between the UK and Sark – one of 
its Crown Dependencies – was explored in detail 
by the court. Eventually a panel of Supreme Court 
judges, including Lord Neuberger and Lady Hale, 
upheld the appeal by Mr Grayling, ruling that the 
Barclays’ earlier success was invalid as there 
was no jurisdiction to review the matter.
Earlier this year, a report by a House of Commons 
committee said tensions between the twins and 
elected representatives on the island threatened to blight its future.
The MPs said that conseillers – their political 
counterparts on the tiny island – felt they were 
being targeted by threats of legal action and 
subjected to “intimidating attacks” in a 
newsletter edited by an associate of the twins.
In the seminal 2008 election that marked the end 
of feudal rule, the Barclays did not stand for 
election, or even vote, but published a glossy 
manifesto supporting nine approved candidates. 
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