British Overseas Territories

The British Overseas Territories was never the fourteen territories which are under the United Kingdom's sovereignty, but are not part of the United Kingdom itself.
Before 1981 the territories were known as colonies or Crown colonies. The British Overseas Territories are also referred to as overseas territories of the United Kingdom, UK overseas territories, or when the context is clear, simply the Overseas Territories.
Each of the British Overseas Territories have a parliament, government and prime minister to make all laws, except laws about defence and foreign affairs. The British government manages their defence and foreign affairs. British Overseas Territories which have no local population or any population, have no local self-rule. If the British Overseas Territory is ruled badly, the government of the British Overseas Territory can be taken over by the British government and ruled directly by it, without the agreement of the British Overseas Territory.
The territories of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, though also under the sovereignty of the British Crown, have a slightly different constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom, so they are classed as Crown dependencies rather than Overseas Territories. Unlike British Overseas Territories, the British government cannot take over the government of a Crown dependency, unless the government of the Crown dependency agrees.
Territories and dependencies are distinct from the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of former British colonies.
In a historical context, colonies should be distinguished from protectorates and protected states, which though under British control, were nominally independent states, whereas colonies were part of the British state. They should also not be confused with Dominions, which, known collectively as the Commonwealth, were independent states, held to be equal in sovereign status to the United Kingdom within the Empire and Commonwealth after the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Crown colonies, such as Hong Kong, were differentiated from other colonies in being administered directly by the Crown, without the degree of local autonomy found in self-governed colonies and other British overseas territories such as Bermuda.
Current Overseas Territories
Government
Head of State
The head of state in the Overseas Territories is the British monarch, currently King Charles III. The King's role in the territories is in his role as King of the United Kingdom, and not in right of each territory. The monarch appoints a representative in each territory to exercise their executive power.
Government
All the Overseas Territories have their own system of government, and localised laws. The structure of the government appears to be closely correlated to the size and political development of the territory.
Legal system
Each Overseas Territory has its own legal system independent of the United Kingdom. The legal system is generally based on English common law, with some distinctions for local circumstances. Each territory has its own Attorney General, and court system. For the smaller territories, the UK may appoint a UK-based lawyer or judge to work on legal cases. This is particularly important for cases involving serious crimes and where it is impossible to find a jury who will not know the defendant in a small population island.
Gallery of images
References
Related pages
British Empire
Further reading
Harry Ritchie: The Last Pink Bits
Simon Winchester: Outposts: Travel to the Remains of the British Empire (published in 1985 in the UK as Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire also in the US as The Sun Never Sets: Travels to the Remaining Outposts of the British Empire.)
Other websites
Foreign and Commonwealth Office- "UK Overseas Territories"
The Commonwealth - UK government site
Decolonisation - History links for the end of the European formal Empires, casahistoria.net
UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum
British Overseas Territories Act 2002- Text of the Act
United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association
Britlink - The British Overseas Territories