The Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities (CICRA) was the name given to the combined

Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) is the competition, postal, and telecommunications regulatory authority for Jersey, a British Crown Dependency located in the English Channel. Jersey's Competition Laws The Jersey Competition ...

and the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority, which operate in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the t ...

and the

Bailiwick of Jersey A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on the ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. CICRA existed from 2010 to 2020: the authorities for Guernsey and Jersey now function independently.

History

Formed in December 2010, CICRA was responsible for administering and enforcing the Competition (Jersey) Law 2005 and The Competition (Guernsey) Ordinance 2012. The purpose of the legislation is to prevent consumers being harmed by anti-competitive or exploitative behaviour in the market. The decision to form a joint body was taken because of the similarity of needs and the reduction in duplication through

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

. Resources available to CICRA were limited. The joint body was disbanded in July 2020.

Areas of responsibility

The areas of responsibility were: * ''Competition law'' ** Some areas of work are discretionary, others such as a duty to investigate mergers and acquisitions are statutory * ''Telecommunications'' ** Regulator * ''Postal sectors'' ** Regulator looking at quality and universal service obligations * ''Electricity – Guernsey 2012'' ** Regulator * ''Ports – Jersey 2015'' ** Economic regulatory authority, to protect and further the interests of users of port operations and where appropriate promote competition

Board

CICRA's board comprised a chairman, three executive directors and three non-executive directors. There were fewer than ten staff spread between two offices in the two islands.

Areas of contention

An investigation by CICRA into possible market abuse by a

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (french: États de Guernesey), sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guern ...

contract in 2016 was blocked as the States refused to supply CICRA with the necessary funding. The investigation was dropped in January 2017. The ownership of regulated companies by the governments, such as

Jersey Post Jersey Post is the licensed universal service provider of mail service for the Bailiwick of Jersey. History Jersey Post was established (as the Committee for Postal Administration) by the ''Post Office (Jersey) Law 1969'', in 1969 as a result ...

and

Guernsey Electricity Guernsey Electricity Limited (GE) is the sole commercial electricity supplier on the island of Guernsey. GE has been operating for over 100 years, moving from local generation of power from coal, and later oil, to investing in cables to connect in ...

, could produce conflicts.

References

External links

*{{Official website, cicra.gg/index.aspx 2020 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 2010 establishments in British Overseas Territories Communications authorities Competition regulators Consumer organisations in the United Kingdom Economy of Guernsey Economy of Jersey Regulation in the United Kingdom