Statute of Westminster 1931
Encyclopedia
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominion
s of the British Empire
with the United Kingdom
. The Statute remains domestic law within each of the other Commonwealth realm
s, to the extent that it has not been implicitly repealed
by subsequent laws.
The Statute is of historical importance because it marked the effective legislative independence of these countries, either immediately or upon ratification. The residual constitutional powers retained by the Westminster parliament have now largely been superseded by subsequent legislation. Its current relevance is that it sets the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth realm
s and the Crown
.
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. The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 was repealed in its application to the dominions. After the Statute was passed, the British government could no longer make ordinary law for the dominions, other than at the request and with the consent of the Parliament of that dominion.
It did not, however, immediately provide for any changes to the legislation establishing the constitutions of Australia and Canada. This meant, for example, that many constitutional changes continued to require the intervention of the British Parliament, although only at the request and with the consent of the dominions as described above. These residual powers were finally removed by the Canada Act 1982
, the Australia Act 1986
, and the New Zealand Constitution Act 1986. The reason for the delay in relation to Canada and Australia was because the Statute still did not clarify the ability of the United Kingdom Parliament to legislate with regard to individual states of Australia or Provinces of Canada. This meant that while at a federal level the government was legislatively independent, the British Parliament retained a (mostly theoretical) ability to legislate at the state or provincial level. This brought up delicate questions of the separation of power
s between the federal and state/provincial governments, which took time to be satisfactorily resolved. In New Zealand, the Parliament was empowered to change the constitution by the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947, which was the last piece of legislation passed by the British Parliament relating to the government of New Zealand. Nevertheless the Act did not remove the ability of the British Parliament to legislate regarding the New Zealand Constitution; this was only achieved with the passing of the Constitution Act 1986.
The key passage of the Statute provides that:
It was also enacted that:
Under the provisions of section 9 of the statute, the British Parliament still had the power to pass legislation regarding the Australian states
, although "in accordance with the [existing] constitutional practice". In practice, these powers were not exercised. For example, in a referendum held in April 1933 in Western Australia
, 68% of voters voted for the state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of becoming a separate Dominion within the British Empire. The state government sent a delegation to Westminster to cause the result to be enacted, but the British Parliament refused to intervene on the grounds that it was a matter for the Commonwealth of Australia. As a result no action was taken. These residual powers were removed by the Australia Act 1986
.
to the Crown
. The second paragraph of the preamble to the Statute reads:
This means, for example, that any change to the Act of Settlement
's provisions barring Roman Catholics from the throne or giving male heirs precedence over females would require the unanimous consent of the parliaments of all the other Commonwealth realm
s if the unity of the Crown is to be retained. The preamble does not itself contain enforceable provisions, so the preamble merely expresses a constitutional convention, albeit one fundamental to the basis of the relationship between the Commonwealth Realms. (Of course, as sovereign nations, each is free to withdraw from the arrangement, using their respective process for constitutional amendment, and no longer be united through common allegiance to the Crown.)
The convention as to altering the "Royal Style and Titles" was altered by the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in 1953, when they agreed to pass individual Royal Style and Titles Act
s to enact different royal style
s in each realm.
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 (Ireland and South Africa are now republics, and Newfoundland is part of Canada). This has raised some logistical concerns, as it would mean sixteen parliaments would all have to vote to approve any future changes, such as the abolition of male-preference primogeniture
.
in 1936, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
consulted the Commonwealth Prime Ministers at the request of King Edward VIII. The King wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, whom Baldwin and other British politicians considered unacceptable as Queen, as she was an American divorcée. Baldwin was able to get the then five Dominion Prime Ministers to agree with this consensus, and thus register their official disapproval at the King's planned marriage. The King later requested the Commonwealth Prime Ministers be consulted on a compromise plan, in which he would wed Simpson under a morganatic marriage
pursuant to which she would not become Queen. Under Baldwin's pressure, this plan was also rejected by the Dominions. All of these negotiations occurred at a diplomatic level and never went to the Commonwealth parliaments. However, the enabling legislation that allowed for the actual abdication (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936
) did require the consent of the Dominion governments. The text of the 1936 Act states that the Dominion of Canada consented to the Act applying in Canada under the Statute of Westminster, while Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa also consented.
In February 1937, the South African Parliament formally gave its "assent" by passing the Abdication Act, which declared that Edward had abdicated on 10 December 1936; that he and his descendants, if any, would have no right of succession to the throne; and that the Royal Marriages Act would not apply to him or his descendants, if any. The move was largely done for symbolic purposes, in an attempt by Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog to assert South Africa's independence from Britain. In Canada
, the Parliament passed the Succession to the Throne Act 1937
(1 Geo. VI, c.16) to ratify the government's consent to the British Act. In the Irish Free State
, the laws allowing for the abdication of Edward as King in Ireland
were not passed until the day following each of the other realms, which technically meant that the State had a different monarch for twenty-four hours. Further, Prime Minister
Éamon de Valera
used the departure of the Monarch as an opportunity to remove all monarchical language from the Constitution of the Irish Free State
. As a result, Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 was first passed on 10 December 1936, which, in addition to effecting his constitutional reforms, also provides for the use of the British monarch for certain diplomatic purposes while Ireland is still in the Commonwealth, if authorized by law. The External Relations Act, passed the next day, as well as properly approving the abdication, also triggers the constitutional clause, making the new king "authorized by Ireland" for external relations. A new Constitution of Ireland
, with a President as head of state except for external relations, was approved by Irish voters in 1937, with the Irish Free State becoming simply "Ireland", or, when speaking or writing in the Irish language, Éire
. However, as the External Relations Act was still in effect, the head of state of Ireland remained unclear until 1949, when Ireland unambiguously became a republic outside the British Commonwealth by enacting Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Statute remains domestic law within each of the other Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
s, to the extent that it has not been implicitly repealed
Implied repeal
The doctrine of implied repeal is a concept in English constitutional theory which states that where an Act of Parliament conflicts with an earlier one, the later Act takes precedence and the conflicting parts of the earlier Act are repealed...
by subsequent laws.
The Statute is of historical importance because it marked the effective legislative independence of these countries, either immediately or upon ratification. The residual constitutional powers retained by the Westminster parliament have now largely been superseded by subsequent legislation. Its current relevance is that it sets the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
s and the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
.
Application
The Statute applied to Canada, the Irish Free State and South Africa without the need for ratifying measures. Section 10 of the Statute required the parliaments of the other three dominions—Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland—to adopt the Statute before it would apply to them as part of their domestic law.- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
adopted the StatuteStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 is an Act of the Australian Parliament that formally adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931, an Act of the British Imperial Parliament enabling the legislative independence of the various self-governing Dominions of the British Empire...
in 1942; to clarify government war powers, the adoption was backdated to 3 September 1939—the start of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. However the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its long title is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws"....
continued to have application in individual Australian statesStates and territories of AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
until the Australia Act 1986Australia Act 1986The Australia Act 1986 is the name given to a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
came into effect. Sections 8 and 9 of the Statute contained savers for the entrenched provisions of the Australian Constitution and for the limitation of the Australian governments powers.
- While the Statute applied to CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
without the need for ratification, the British North America ActsBritish North America ActsThe British North America Acts 1867–1975 are the original names of a series of Acts at the core of the constitution of Canada. They were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some of the Acts were amended or repealed by the Constitution Act, 1982....
(the then written elements of the Canadian federal Constitution) was excluded from the Statute's application. The exclusion of the Acts was the result of a disagreement between the Canadian provinces and the federal government over how the North America Acts would be amended in an independent Canada. The disagreement was only resolved with the passing of the Canada ActCanada Act 1982The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
in 1982, thus completing the so-called patriationPatriationPatriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "homecoming" of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament...
of the Canadian Constitution back to Canada.
- The Irish Free StateIrish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
never formally adopted the statute, although motions of approval of the Report of the Commonwealth Conference were passed by the DáilDáil Éireann (Irish Free State)Dáil Éireann served as the directly elected lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1937. The Free State constitution described the role of the house as that of a "Chamber of Deputies". Until 1936 the Free State Oireachtas also included an upper house known as the Seanad...
and SeanadSeanad Éireann (Irish Free State)Seanad Éireann was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, or as the First Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were...
in May 1931. The British had wanted to exclude from the Statute the legislation underpinning the 1921 Anglo-Irish TreatyAnglo-Irish TreatyThe Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
from which the Free State's constitutionConstitution of the Irish Free StateThe Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act 1922, of which it formed a part...
emerged, but the Irish objected and the other dominions concurred. When an amendment to similar effect was proposed at Westminster by John Gretton, the government duly voted it down. When Éamon de ValeraÉamon de ValeraÉamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
led Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
to victory in the 1932 Free State electionIrish general election, 1932The Irish general election of 1932 was held on 16 February 1932, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 29 January. The newly elected 153 members of the 7th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 9 March 1932 when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of...
, he began removing monarchical elements of the constitution, beginning with the Oath of AllegianceOath of Allegiance (Ireland)The Irish Oath of Allegiance was a controversial provision in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which Irish TDs and Senators were required to take, in order to take their seats in Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann .-Text of the Oath:The Oath was included in Article 17 of the Irish Free State's 1922...
. The British felt this was morally objectionable but legally permitted under the Statute. Robert Lyon Moore, a Southern unionist from County DonegalCounty DonegalCounty Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, challenged the legality of the abolition in the Free State courtsCourts of the Republic of IrelandThe Courts of the Republic of Ireland consist of the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court. The courts apply the laws of Ireland. Ireland is a common law jurisdiction and trials for serious offences must usually be held before a jury...
, and then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy CouncilJudicial Committee of the Privy CouncilThe Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
. The right of such appeal had itself been abolished in the meantime. In 1935 the JCPC ruled that both abolitions were valid under the Statute of Westminster.
- New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
adopted the Statute on 25 November 1947 by its Statute of Westminster Adoption ActStatute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 was a constitutional Act of the New Zealand Parliament that formally accepted the full external autonomy offered by the British Parliament...
.
- NewfoundlandDominion of NewfoundlandThe Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
never adopted the Statute; by request of its government, the United Kingdom resumed direct rule in 1934 and maintained it until Newfoundland became a province of Canada in 1949.
- Although South AfricaUnion of South AfricaThe Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
was not among the dominions that needed to adopt the Statute for it to have effect, two Acts—the Status of the Union Act, 1934Status of the Union Act, 1934The Status of the Union Act, 1934 was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that was the South African counterpart to the Statute of Westminster, 1931. It declared the Union of South Africa to be a "sovereign independent state" and explicitly adopted the Statute of Westminster into South...
and the Royal Executive Functions and Seals Act, 1934—were passed to confirm South Africa's status as a sovereign stateSovereign stateA sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
.
Equality provisions
The Statute gave effect to certain political resolutions passed by the Imperial Conferences of 19261926 Imperial Conference
The 1926 Imperial Conference was the sixth Imperial Conference held amongst the Prime Ministers of the dominions of the British Empire. It was held in London from 19 October to 22 November 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. The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 was repealed in its application to the dominions. After the Statute was passed, the British government could no longer make ordinary law for the dominions, other than at the request and with the consent of the Parliament of that dominion.
It did not, however, immediately provide for any changes to the legislation establishing the constitutions of Australia and Canada. This meant, for example, that many constitutional changes continued to require the intervention of the British Parliament, although only at the request and with the consent of the dominions as described above. These residual powers were finally removed by the Canada Act 1982
Canada Act 1982
The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
, the Australia Act 1986
Australia Act 1986
The Australia Act 1986 is the name given to a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, and the New Zealand Constitution Act 1986. The reason for the delay in relation to Canada and Australia was because the Statute still did not clarify the ability of the United Kingdom Parliament to legislate with regard to individual states of Australia or Provinces of Canada. This meant that while at a federal level the government was legislatively independent, the British Parliament retained a (mostly theoretical) ability to legislate at the state or provincial level. This brought up delicate questions of the separation of power
Separation of Power
Separation of Power is Vince Flynn's fourth novel, and the third to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counterterrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
s between the federal and state/provincial governments, which took time to be satisfactorily resolved. In New Zealand, the Parliament was empowered to change the constitution by the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947, which was the last piece of legislation passed by the British Parliament relating to the government of New Zealand. Nevertheless the Act did not remove the ability of the British Parliament to legislate regarding the New Zealand Constitution; this was only achieved with the passing of the Constitution Act 1986.
The key passage of the Statute provides that:
No Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend or be deemed to extend, to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion, unless it is expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof.
It was also enacted that:
No law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a Dominion shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England, or to the provisions of any existing or future Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, or to any order, rule, or regulation made under any such Act, and the powers of the Parliament of a Dominion shall include the power to repeal or amend any such Act, order, rule or regulation insofar as the same is part of the law of the Dominion.
Under the provisions of section 9 of the statute, the British Parliament still had the power to pass legislation regarding the Australian states
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
, although "in accordance with the [existing] constitutional practice". In practice, these powers were not exercised. For example, in a referendum held in April 1933 in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, 68% of voters voted for the state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of becoming a separate Dominion within the British Empire. The state government sent a delegation to Westminster to cause the result to be enacted, but the British Parliament refused to intervene on the grounds that it was a matter for the Commonwealth of Australia. As a result no action was taken. These residual powers were removed by the Australia Act 1986
Australia Act 1986
The Australia Act 1986 is the name given to a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
.
Implications for succession to the throne
The preamble to the Statute of Westminster sets out conventions which affect attempts to change the rules of successionLine of succession to the British Throne
The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...
to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. The second paragraph of the preamble to the Statute reads:
And whereas it is meet and proper to set out by way of preamble to this Act that, inasmuch as the Crown is the symbol of the free association of the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and as they are united by a common allegiance to the Crown, it would be in accord with the established constitutional position of all the members of the Commonwealth in relation to one another that any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom:
This means, for example, that any change to the Act of Settlement
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...
's provisions barring Roman Catholics from the throne or giving male heirs precedence over females would require the unanimous consent of the parliaments of all the other Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
s if the unity of the Crown is to be retained. The preamble does not itself contain enforceable provisions, so the preamble merely expresses a constitutional convention, albeit one fundamental to the basis of the relationship between the Commonwealth Realms. (Of course, as sovereign nations, each is free to withdraw from the arrangement, using their respective process for constitutional amendment, and no longer be united through common allegiance to the Crown.)
The convention as to altering the "Royal Style and Titles" was altered by the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in 1953, when they agreed to pass individual Royal Style and Titles Act
Royal Style and Titles Act
In the Commonwealth realms, a Royal Style and Titles Act is passed in order to declare the Sovereign's formal title.The most significant of these Acts is the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, which was passed in the United Kingdom in recognition of the creation of the Irish Free State, a...
s to enact different royal style
Style (manner of address)
A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...
s in each realm.
Since 1931, over a dozen new Commonwealth realms have been created, all of which now hold the same powers as the United Kingdom, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
over matters of change to the Monarchy (Ireland and South Africa are now republics, and Newfoundland is part of Canada). This has raised some logistical concerns, as it would mean sixteen parliaments would all have to vote to approve any future changes, such as the abolition of male-preference primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
.
Abdication of King Edward VIII
During the abdication crisisEdward VIII abdication crisis
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII's proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite....
in 1936, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
consulted the Commonwealth Prime Ministers at the request of King Edward VIII. The King wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, whom Baldwin and other British politicians considered unacceptable as Queen, as she was an American divorcée. Baldwin was able to get the then five Dominion Prime Ministers to agree with this consensus, and thus register their official disapproval at the King's planned marriage. The King later requested the Commonwealth Prime Ministers be consulted on a compromise plan, in which he would wed Simpson under a morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
pursuant to which she would not become Queen. Under Baldwin's pressure, this plan was also rejected by the Dominions. All of these negotiations occurred at a diplomatic level and never went to the Commonwealth parliaments. However, the enabling legislation that allowed for the actual abdication (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was the Act of the British Parliament that allowed King Edward VIII to abdicate the throne, and passed succession to his brother Prince Albert, Duke of York . The Act also excluded any possible future descendants of Edward from the line of succession...
) did require the consent of the Dominion governments. The text of the 1936 Act states that the Dominion of Canada consented to the Act applying in Canada under the Statute of Westminster, while Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa also consented.
In February 1937, the South African Parliament formally gave its "assent" by passing the Abdication Act, which declared that Edward had abdicated on 10 December 1936; that he and his descendants, if any, would have no right of succession to the throne; and that the Royal Marriages Act would not apply to him or his descendants, if any. The move was largely done for symbolic purposes, in an attempt by Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog to assert South Africa's independence from Britain. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Parliament passed the Succession to the Throne Act 1937
Succession to the Throne Act 1937
The Succession to the Throne Act was the Act of the Canadian Parliament thatratified Canadian consent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that allowed King Edward VIII to abdicate the throne, and passed the succession to Prince Albert, Duke...
(1 Geo. VI, c.16) to ratify the government's consent to the British Act. In the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
, the laws allowing for the abdication of Edward as King in Ireland
Monarchy in the Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was, in accordance with its constitution, governed formally under a form of constitutional monarchy. The British monarch was the head of state of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1931, when the Statute of Westminster came into effect, and thereafter the Irish Free State had a...
were not passed until the day following each of the other realms, which technically meant that the State had a different monarch for twenty-four hours. Further, Prime Minister
President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State
The President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State was the head of government or prime minister of the Irish Free State which existed from 1922 to 1937...
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
used the departure of the Monarch as an opportunity to remove all monarchical language from the Constitution of the Irish Free State
Constitution of the Irish Free State
The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act 1922, of which it formed a part...
. As a result, Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 was first passed on 10 December 1936, which, in addition to effecting his constitutional reforms, also provides for the use of the British monarch for certain diplomatic purposes while Ireland is still in the Commonwealth, if authorized by law. The External Relations Act, passed the next day, as well as properly approving the abdication, also triggers the constitutional clause, making the new king "authorized by Ireland" for external relations. A new Constitution of Ireland
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...
, with a President as head of state except for external relations, was approved by Irish voters in 1937, with the Irish Free State becoming simply "Ireland", or, when speaking or writing in the Irish language, Éire
Éire
is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.- Etymology :The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or...
. However, as the External Relations Act was still in effect, the head of state of Ireland remained unclear until 1949, when Ireland unambiguously became a republic outside the British Commonwealth by enacting Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
See also
- Westminster systemWestminster SystemThe Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
- Chanak CrisisChanak CrisisThe Chanak Crisis, also called Chanak Affair in September 1922 was the threatened attack by Turkish troops on British and French troops stationed near Çanakkale to guard the Dardanelles neutral zone. The Turkish troops had recently defeated Greek forces and recaptured İzmir...
concerning Canada. - Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria, a corpus of criteria including some of the principles of the Statute of Westminster