Suppose a person has passport which indicates their ‘Nationality’ as ‘British Citizen’, but the passport is that of the ‘British Islands: Bailiwick of Jersey’. Under the Succession Regulation (article 22) he may elect for the ‘law of the State of whose nationality he possesses at the time of making the choice or at the time of death’. The State in question for this individual would be the UK (not Jersey). For these purposes, per article 36, this individual may therefore elect for the law of ‘England & Wales’ or the law of Scotland or the law of Northern Ireland, depending on the territorial unit (only out of those three options) with which he has the closest connection. What you report in your post suggests that Jersey is not a part of the UK: presumably, therefore, it would not be open to this individual to elect for Jersey succession law to apply.
Unless there is such a thing as a ‘Jersey citizen’, I assume that it would never be possible to elect for Jersey succession law under article 22 of the Succession Regulation (although it could apply through the ‘habitual residence’ or ‘manifestly more closely connected’ options). Likewise re Guernsey, etc.
Do you agree?
Paul Davidoff
Bircham Dyson Bell LLP