Law of Guernsey by the Court of Alderney at a special sitting on Saturday 28 January 2017. King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216, lost the English-controlled territories in Normandy in France following the 1204 Siege of Château Gaillard, the remaining Norman lands being the Channel Islands. King John promised the islands independence and the right to continue governing themselves after they confirmed their allegiance to the English Crown. Agents of the Crown called bailiffs would enforce the laws and run the courts, one in Jersey and one in Guernsey; the areas under the authority of these bailiffs were called bailiwicks. In
Bailiwick of Guernsey government. All three legal jurisdictions need Royal Assent from the Privy Council on its primary legislation. Each jurisdiction raises its own taxation, although in 1949 Alderney transferred its rights to Guernsey. The island of Guernsey has a population of around 63,000 in and forms the legal and administrative centre of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The parliament of Guernsey and of the nearby inhabited islands of Herm, Jethou and Lihou is the States of Guernsey. With a population of around 1,900 in , Alderney has its own parliament, the States of Alderney, which has ten elected members and an elected president.