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The Island Council is the legislative body of the Pitcairn Islands. It also doubles as the court of the British dependency, making it one of the few bodies in the world to possess both legislative and judicial authority. (The British House of Lords technically has dual authority also, but in practice only an élite committee, known as Law Lords, exercises the judicial function).
The Council has ten members. The Mayor and the Chairman of the Island Council, both of whom are directly elected, hold membership on the council ex officio. Four ordinary councillors are popularly elected. The six directly elected councillors (including the Mayor and the Council Chairman) co-opt a seventh member. The colonial governor appoints two councillors. The tenth seat on the council is reserved for the Island Secretary, a non-elected official. Apart from the Mayor, who serves for a three-year term, and the Island Secretary, whose term is indefinite, all councillors serve one-year terms.
The presiding officer of the council was traditionally the Magistrate, who held executive, legislative, and judicial authority. Following a constitutional review in 1998, his office was divided and replaced by the Mayor and the Council Chairman, effective from 1999).
Council Membership
Following the general election held on 15 December 2004, the composition of the council was as follows.
- Jay Warren (Mayor; ex officio member)
- Mike Warren (Chairman of the Island Council; ex officio member)
- Meralda Warren
- Olive Christian
- Carol Warren
- Lea Brown
not included: two members appointed by the governor; and the Island Secretary (ex officio member).
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