Falkland Islands Constitution

The Falkland Islands Constitution is a predominantly codified constitution documented primarily within the Falkland Islands Constitution Order 2008, a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom. The Constitution, in its present form, was made on 5 November 2008 by Queen Elizabeth II in a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace. It was laid before Parliament on 12 November 2008 and came into force on 1 January 2009, replacing the 1985 constitution.

After the reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falklands in 1833, the islands were administered under military law by the British Admiralty. At the start of the 1840s colonists began to settle in the islands. As a result, in 1842 the Falklands were put under the control of a Civil Administrator (later becoming the office of Governor) under the Colonial Office and in 1843 the islands officially became a Crown Colony. In 1845 the first Governor of the Falkland Islands, Richard Moody, formally inaugurated the Executive Council and Legislative Council in the newly founded town of Stanley.