Statute of Westminster
The Statute of Westminster in 1931 made the dominions legally independent of the British parliament. The constitutional position before it was ambiguous in a way that had become embarrassing. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland governed themselves entirely in domestic matters and were nonetheless subject to the Colonial Laws Validity Act, which voided any dominion law repugnant to a British one, and Westminster retained a theoretical power to legislate for them. Foreign policy was formally imperial and singular, so that George V's declaration of war in 1914 committed all of them without their being asked. The war changed that. The dominions had raised armies of their own, taken enormous casualties, signed the Treaty of Versailles separately and joined the League as members. The Chanak crisis of 1922, when Canada declined to send troops on London's assumption that it would, made the position untenable. The Balfour Declaration of the 1926 imperial conference supplied the formula: autonomous communities, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, united by a common allegiance to the crown. The statute enacted it in 1931. Canada, South Africa and the Irish Free State adopted it immediately; Australia and New Zealand waited until 1942 and 1947, and Newfoundland never did and went bankrupt and joined Canada. The crown became separate crowns held by the same person. India, which had also signed at Versailles and joined the League, was not included and became independent by a different route sixteen years later. The Commonwealth as a voluntary association of equals dates from this statute rather than from any imperial design.
- Year: 1931 CE
- Category: Political
