Politics of the Pitcairn Islands


The Pitcairn Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific Ocean, with a population of about 35. The politics of the islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Mayor is the head of government. 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, New Zealand.

Executive branch

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.
NameTerm
Donald A. McLoughlinc. 1958–1979
Paul Treadwellc. 1979–2007
Paul Rishworthc. 2007–2015
Simon Mountc. 2015–

Legislative branch

The Pitcairn Islands have a unicameral Island Council ''; the tenth seat is reserved for a Commissioner 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: 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 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 Auckland, New Zealand, 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, appeals to the Privy Council were formally permitted by an Order in Council 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 that country.
Currently, the members of the judiciary are:
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 and Public Defender – Paul Dacre – 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.