Gibraltar
Overview
Associations: the United Kingdom and the European Union
Capital: Gibraltar
Government: Gibraltar is a self-governing jurisdiction. Spain has tried to gain sovereignty away from Britain for a number of years, but their efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
Location: Gibraltar is located in southwestern Europe and borders the Strait of Gibraltar, a body of water linking the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southern coast of Spain.
Climate: Gibraltar is blessed with a Mediterranean climate featuring mild winters and warm summers.
Religion: An overwhelming majority of Gibraltar’s population is Roman Catholic, but there are notable Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim communities within the jurisdiction.
Entry and Exit: Gibraltar has one airport.
Non-resident stay: Visas are not required for tourist or business stays of up to 90 days. Anyone owning property or setting foot on Gibraltar’s soil is subject to Gibraltar’s taxes.
Language: English is taught in schools and used for official purposes, but much of the population also speaks Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
Communication: Gibraltar has a well-developed communications infrastructure.
Currency: Gibraltar pound (GIP)
GDP per capita: $17,500 (2003 estimates)
Main industry: Gibraltar’s main industries are tourism, banking and finance, ship repairing, and tobacco production.
Unique characteristics: Gibraltar offers a flag of convenience and is known for banking and insurance companies as well as fund management, holding companies, and trusts. Exempt companies do not have to pay taxes of any kind for 25 years.
Legal System
Gibraltar’s legal system is based on English Common Law. Despite the fact that the courts apply English common law and equity as a general rule, the vast majority of Gibraltar’s commercial legislation has been designed in order to foster a favorable climate for the financial services industry. For instance, Gibraltar’s laws on banking secrecy and the confidentiality of offshore company management are significantly more rigid than that of the United Kingdom.
Generally speaking common law, as opposed to civil or socialist law, is a type of legal system where legislation is continually evolving. Courts refine and create laws on a case-by-case basis. When resolving a legal dispute, in the ideal world, a common law court looks to precedents set by other courts. What this means is that when a court is resolving a dispute, it must look to see if a similar dispute was resolved in the past. If one has, then the present day court is obligated to following the same reasoning used in the prior case; this principle is called stare decisis. On the other hand, if the dispute is totally unique, the court may resolve the matter itself using general guidelines. This new decision then becomes the precedent to which all future cases are bound. Over the years, the precedents created by past decisions coalesce into a complicated set of rules that apply to a wide array of case; this collection of rules is known as “common law”. Of course, common law systems are much more complex in practice, nevertheless the principle of stare decisis as described above, is the foundation of all common law systems.
Privacy
At this time the government of Gibraltar has neither signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement nor a Mutual Assistance Treaty with the United States. Moreover, Gibraltar is full participant in the European Union Savings Directive and thus has agreed to share personal information with other nations. As such, Gibraltar does not offer a high level of privacy protection to European Union citizens. Although Gibraltar has thus far protected the privacy of some its foreign investors, its commitment to protecting the privacy of offshore investors as a whole is questionable based upon its willingness to share information with European Union members.
Latest news
-
College Financial Aid Help - WMBB-TV
Google News - Panama
17-February-2008College Financial Aid HelpWMBB-TV, FL - 19 hours agoBy Tuquyen Mach Panama City, FL -- The cost of a college education keeps going up, so the folks at Gulf Coast Community College are seeking to help students ...
[full story] -
PKK, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? - Kurdish Aspect
Google News - The Marshall Islands
16-February-2008PKK, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?Kurdish Aspect, CO - 3 hours agoScotland, Ireland and Wales, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are, in fact, the last colonies of the English Empire. In addition, I was aware that ...
[full story] -
PKK, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? - Kurdish Aspect
Google News - The Marshall Islands
16-February-2008PKK, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?Kurdish Aspect, CO - Feb 16, 2008Scotland, Ireland and Wales, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are, in fact, the last colonies of the English Empire. In addition, I was aware that ...
[full story]