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Legislature of the Isle of Man

Tynwald , or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council. When the two chambers sit together, they become "Tynwald Court". The chambers sit jointly, on Tynwald Day at St John's for largely ceremonial purposes, and usually once a month in the Legislative Buildings in Douglas. Otherwise, the two chambers sit separately, with the House of Keys originating most legislation, and the Legislative Council acting as a revising chamber.

The name Tynwald, like the Icelandic Þingvellir and Norwegian Tingvoll, is derived from the Old Norse word Þingvǫllr meaning the meeting place of the assembly, the field (vǫllr→wald, cf. the Old English cognate weald) of the thing.

Tynwald meets annually on Tynwald Day (usually on 5 July) at an open air ceremony at Tynwald Hill at St John's. The Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man presides, unless the monarch as Lord of Mann, or a member of the Royal Family representing them, is present. Here, all laws are promulgated in both Manx and English and petitions are received.

If an Act of Tynwald is not promulgated at St John's within 18 months of passage, it becomes null and void.

When Tynwald votes at a joint sitting, each branch normally votes separately. If a majority of each branch approves, the motion is carried. If the Council vote ties, then the President of Tynwald casts the deciding vote in line with the majority vote of the Keys. However, if the Keys approves a motion but the Council disapproves, then the question can be put again at a different sitting. In this case, the vote is determined by a majority of all the members of Tynwald. If this occurs, the Keys, with its larger size, is likely to prevail. However, in some cases Tynwald votes as one body even when there is no disagreement between the branches: e. g. when electing the Chief Minister or on a vote of no confidence in the Council of Ministers.

Normally, both branches of Tynwald must pass a bill before it goes to the sovereign or his representative the Lieutenant Governor, representing the King in Council, for royal assent. But if the Council rejects a bill or amends it against the Keys' wishes, the Keys has the power to repass the same bill; in this case the Council's approval is not required, and the bill is presented to the Lieutenant Governor for royal assent. On some matters, the Royal Assent to Legislation (Isle of Man) Order 1981 requires the Lieutenant Governor to consult with and follow the advice of the Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom.

Tynwald claims to be over 1,000 years old, and thus the "oldest continuous parliament" in the world (Iceland's Althing claims world’s oldest parliament, though with noncontinuous operation). In 1979, the Manx people celebrated the millennium of their parliament. The year was picked arbitrarily by officials; there is no evidence indicating that such an assembly was held in 979, or that any such event resembled the modern day court. The first record of the place name occurs in the 13th–14th century Chronicles of Mann, and the first description of the role and composition of an assembly held on site occurs in the early 15th century.

Tynwald originally comprised only the 24 Members of the House of Keys, commonly referred to as "the Keys". There were four members for each of the six sheadings of the island. The earliest surviving record of the Keys dates from 1417. The Keys were not originally an elected body, and membership was for life. When a vacancy arose the remaining members selected the replacement member. In general, membership of the Keys passed down through the leading families on the island. In the 16th century the Keys met irregularly. They were akin to a jury which was summoned from time to time by the Lord of Mann or by the deemsters when they required advice as to the law. In 1600 the Keys became a permanent body. Until 1577, the Keys merely declared and interpreted the ancient common law when queries arose. This developed into the power to create new laws, a function that Tynwald adopted around 1610.

In October 1651, during the English Civil War, the island fell to the Parliamentary forces, who took over the administration of the government. During this period, Tynwald met only sporadically. Following the restoration of the monarchy, control of the island was returned to the Lords of Mann. The Keys saw a reduction in their power at this point, as Tynwald was reconstituted as "the Lord [of Mann], the Governor, the principal officers and the deemsters (who constitute the Lord's Council), and the Commons represented by their Keys." Administration of the government was vested in a Governor, and the Lords of Mann became absentee landlords. The Keys were unhappy with the changes, and agreed to very few new laws. In 1737, Tynwald obtained further powers in addition to its monopoly on law making: the agreement of Tynwald would be required for all taxation, in imitation of the constitutional practice of Great Britain. This was a short lived arrangement, as in 1765 the Lord of Mann sold his rights over the island to the British Crown.

Following the revestment of the Lordship of Mann into the British Crown in 1765, the British government assumed all powers to impose and collect taxes. Tynwald was left with no money to spend, and little power, although it was still able to bring about social change by the repeal in 1771 of restrictive labour legislation. As a result, the Keys asked the British government to dissolve Tynwald and to assent to legislation for a new elected parliament, which they hoped would have a stronger voice to challenge the new government of the island, based in distant Whitehall. To this end, the Keys organised a petition of 800 signatures, which was presented to the British government. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1791, but it was not until 1866 that Tynwald finally passed legislation that would see some of its members elected for the first time. However, before 1866 Tynwald's primary function had been that of the island's court of appeal. The House of Keys Election Act 1866 transferred this judicial power to a separate court.

In 2007, the island's system of government was reviewed with plans to transform the Legislative Council into a directly elected chamber, likely stemming from debate around the reform of the House of Lords, which was a promise of the Blair Government, and resulted in the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. As of September 2023, no such legislation has passed through the Tynwald or Parliament of the United Kingdom, however between 2017 and 2018 the Tynwald considered a series of recommendations from Lord Lisvane regarding legislative reform, most of which were rejected. According to the House of Keys Hansard for 6 December 2023, it was stated that the question of removing the Bishop's vote, and possibly seat, in LegCo and Tynwald has been debated ten times in the recent past. This proposal for change was defeated in the Keys on 6 December 2023.

The Millennium Way long distance footpath was opened in 1979 to commemorate the millennium year of Tynwald.