Westminster Statute (1931)
The 1931 Statute of Westminster was enacted on December 11, 1931 by the British Parliament and formally gave legislative independence to the Dominions of the British Commonwealth of Nations . It is a milestone in the history of the United Kingdom in the process of transition from Empire to Commonwealth with member states having equal rights.
The 1931 Statute of Westminster granted the Dominion Canada , the Australian Confederation , New Zealand , the Irish Free State , the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland complete legislative independence, thereby formally confirming the 1926 Balfour Report ; The only exceptions were constitutional amendments in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for which the British Parliament continued to have competences - in relation to Canada these only expired in 1982 ( see: Constitution of Canada ), in relation to Australia with the Australia Act of 1986 .
For Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland, the statute should only enter into force after the approval of the parliaments there. In Australia this took place in 1942, in New Zealand only in 1947. The statute never came into effect in Newfoundland - the country had been directly ruled by Great Britain again since the 1930s and joined Canada in 1949.
literature
- Conferences and contracts. Contract Ploetz. Handbook of Historically Significant Meetings and Agreements. Part II. 4th volume: Most recent times, 1914-1959 . 2nd expanded and changed edition. Edited by Helmuth KG Rönnefahrt and Heinrich Euler. Würzburg: AG Ploetz Verlag, 1959, pp. 110-112