For other similarly named legislation, see Statute of Westminster.
United Kingdom legislation
Statute of Westminster, 1931[a]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title
An Act to give effect to certain resolutions passed by Imperial Conferences held in the years 1926 and 1930.
Citation
22 & 23 Geo. 5. c. 4
Introduced by
J. H. Thomas, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
Territorial extent
United Kingdom
Australia
Canada
Irish Free State
Newfoundland
New Zealand
South Africa
Dates
Royal assent
11 December 1931
Other legislation
Amends
Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865
Amended by
British North America Act 1949
South Africa Act 1962
Interpretation Act 1978
Merchant Shipping Act 1995
Status: Amended
Records of Parliamentary debate relating to the statute from Hansard
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
The Statute of Westminster 1931[a] is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Dominions (now called Commonwealth realms) and the Crown.[1]
Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute[2] increased the sovereignty of the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire from the United Kingdom. It also bound them all to seek each other's approval for changes to monarchical titles and the common line of succession. The statute was effective either immediately or upon ratification. It thus became a statutory embodiment of the principles of equality and common allegiance to the Crown set out in the Balfour Declaration of 1926. As the statute removed nearly all of the British parliament's authority to legislate for the Dominions, it was a crucial step in the development of the Dominions as separate, independent, and sovereign states.
Its modified versions are now domestic law in Australia and Canada; it has been repealed in New Zealand and implicitly in former Dominions that are no longer Commonwealth realms.[citation needed]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^Mackinlay, Andrew (10 March 2005). "Early day motion 895: Morganatic Marriage and the Statute of Westminster 1931". Queen's Printer. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
^"Statute of Westminster 1931" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives (UK). 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2017. All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0
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