The Statute of Westminster gave effect to certain political resolutions passed by the
Imperial Conferences of
1926 and
1930; in particular, the
Balfour Declaration of 1926. The main effect was the removal of the ability of the
British parliament to legislate for the Dominions, part of which also required the repeal of the
Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 in its application to the Dominions. King
George V expressed his desire that the laws of royal succession be exempt from the statute's provisions, but it was determined that this would be contrary to the principles of equality set out in the Balfour Declaration. Both Canada and the Irish Free State pushed for the ability to amend the succession laws themselves and section 2(2) (allowing a Dominion to amend or repeal laws of paramount force, such as the succession laws, insofar as they are part of the law of that Dominion) was included in the Statute of Westminster at Canada's insistence. After the statute was passed, the British parliament could no longer make laws for the Dominions, other than with the request and consent of the government of that Dominion. The statute provides in section 4: It also provides in section 2(1): The whole statute applied to the Dominion of Canada, the
Irish Free State, and the
Union of South Africa without the need for any acts of ratification; the governments of those countries gave their consent to the application of the law to their respective jurisdictions. Section 10 of the statute provided that sections 2 to 6 would apply in the other three Dominions —Australia,
New Zealand, and
Newfoundland – only after the respective parliament of that Dominion had legislated to adopt them. Since 1931, over a dozen new
Commonwealth realms have been created, all of which now hold the same powers as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand over matters of change to the monarchy, though the Statute of Westminster is not part of their laws. Ireland and South Africa are now republics and Newfoundland is now part of Canada as a province.
Australia '', opening of the
Parliament of Australia, 9 May 1901, by Tom Roberts Australia adopted sections 2 to 6 of the Statute of Westminster with the
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, in order to clarify the validity of certain Australian legislation relating to the
Second World War; the adoption was backdated to 3 September 1939, the date that Britain and Australia
joined the war. Adopting section 2 of the statute clarified that the
Parliament of Australia was able to legislate inconsistently with British legislation, adopting section 3 clarified that it could legislate with extraterritorial effect. Adopting section 4 clarified that Britain could legislate with effect on Australia as a whole only with Australia's request and consent. Nonetheless, under section 9 of the statute, on matters not within Commonwealth power Britain could still legislate with effect in all or any of the Australian states, without the agreement of the Commonwealth although only to the extent of "the constitutional practice existing before the commencement" of the statute. However, this capacity had never been used. In particular, it was not used to implement the result of the
1933 Western Australian secession referendum, as it did not have the support of the Australian government. All British power to legislate with effect in Australia ended with the
Australia Act 1986, the British version of which says that it was passed with the request and consent of the Australian Parliament, which had obtained the concurrence of the
parliaments of the Australian states.
Canada This statute limited the legislative authority of the British parliament over Canada. It effectively gave the country legal autonomy as a self-governing Dominion, though the British parliament retained the power to amend Canada's constitution, a provision which was requested by Canada while a new amending formula was discussed internally. That authority remained in effect until the
Constitution Act, 1982, which transferred it to Canada, the final step to achieving full sovereignty. The
British North America Acts—the written elements (in 1931) of the
Canadian constitution—were excluded from the application of the statute because of disagreements between the
Canadian provinces and the federal government over how the British North America Acts could be otherwise amended. These disagreements were resolved only in time for the passage of the
Canada Act 1982, thus completing the
patriation of the Canadian constitution to Canada. At that time, the Parliament of the United Kingdom also repealed ss 4 and 7(1) of the Statute of Westminster as applied to Canada. The Statute of Westminster, as amended, remains a part of the constitution of Canada by virtue of section 52(2)(
b) of and the schedule to the Constitution Act, 1982. The Newfoundland Terms of Union expressly provide for the application of the Statute of Westminster to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As a consequence of the statute's adoption, the
Parliament of Canada gained the ability to abolish appeals to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Criminal appeals were abolished in 1933, while civil appeals continued until 1949. The passage of the Statute of Westminster meant that changes in British legislation governing the succession to the throne no longer automatically applied to Canada.
Irish Free State The
Irish Free State never formally adopted the Statute of Westminster, its
Executive Council (cabinet) taking the view that the
Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 had already ended Westminster's right to legislate for the Irish Free State. The
Free State's constitution gave the
Oireachtas "sole and exclusive power of making laws". Hence, even before 1931, the Irish Free State did not arrest
deserters from the
British Army and
Royal Air Force on its territory, even though the UK believed post-1922 British laws gave the Free State's
Garda Síochána the power to do so. In 1924,
Kevin O'Higgins, the Free State's
Vice-President of the Executive Council, declared that "Ireland secured by that 'surrender' [the Treaty] a constitutional status equal to that of Canada. 'Canada,' said the late Mr.
Bonar Law,' is by the full admission of British statesmen equal in status to Great Britain and as free as Great Britain'. The constitutional status of Ireland, therefore, as determined by the Treaty of 1921, is a status of co-equality with Britain within the British Commonwealth. The second Article of the Constitution of the Free State", he added, "declares that 'All powers of Government and all authority, legislative, executive and judicial, in Ireland are derived from the people of Ireland' ". Motions of approval of the Report of the Commonwealth Conference had been passed by the
Dáil and
Seanad in May 1931 and the final form of the Statute of Westminster included the Irish Free State among the Dominions the British Parliament could not legislate for without the Dominion's request and consent. Originally, the UK government had wanted to exclude from the Statute of Westminster the legislation underpinning the 1921 treaty, from which the Free State's constitution had emerged.
Executive Council President (Prime Minister)
W. T. Cosgrave objected, although he promised that the Executive Council would not amend the legislation unilaterally. The other Dominions backed Cosgrave and, when an amendment to similar effect was proposed at Westminster by
John Gretton, parliament duly voted it down. When the statute became law in the UK,
Patrick McGilligan, the Free State
Minister for External Affairs, stated: "It is a solemn declaration by the British people through their representatives in Parliament that the powers inherent in the Treaty position are what we have proclaimed them to be for the last ten years." He went on to present the statute as largely the fruit of the Irish Free State's efforts to secure for the other Dominions the same benefits it already enjoyed under the treaty. In 1935, the JCPC ruled that both abolitions were valid under the Statute of Westminster. The Irish Free State, which
in 1937 was
renamed Ireland, left the Commonwealth on 18 April 1949 upon the
coming into force of
The Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
New Zealand The
Parliament of New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster by passing its
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 in November 1947. The
New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act, passed the same year, empowered the New Zealand Parliament to change the constitution, but did not remove the ability of the British Parliament to legislate regarding the New Zealand constitution. The remaining role of the British Parliament was removed by the New Zealand
Constitution Act 1986 and the Statute of Westminster was repealed in its entirety.
Newfoundland The
Dominion of Newfoundland never adopted the Statute of Westminster, especially because of financial troubles and corruption there. By request of the Dominion's government, the United Kingdom established the
Commission of Government in 1934, resuming direct rule of Newfoundland. That arrangement remained until
Newfoundland became a province of Canada in 1949 following
referendums on the issue in 1948. The Statute of Westminster became applicable to Newfoundland when it was admitted to Canada. ==Implications for succession to the throne==