Talk:Statute of Westminster 1931
From Academic Kids
Article said
- The British North America Act and the Constitution Acts of Australia and New Zealand were specifically excluded from the scope of the Statute's principal clauses, requiring British Parliamentary ratification of any amendment to those countries' constitutions, involving as they treaty matters or relations between federal and provincial/state governments.
I don't know about the case of Canada, but in the case of Australia the above is incorrect. Australia has had the power to ammend its own consititution, without needing any approval from the UK parliament, ever since 1901, and has in fact done so on several occasions. The Statute of Westminister did provide, however, that the Commonwealth Parliament would not have the power under the Statute to ammend the Australian Constitution; but that was done to prevent it from circumventing the provisions on ammendment contained in the constitution, not to retain it as a power of the British Parliament. -- SJK
Treaty of Westminster
Edit of 23 May 2005 says "The Statute is sometimes referred to, especially in the former dominions, as the Treaty of Westminster." I've never heard this, it certainly isn't true in Australia, in my experience, and I'm not inclined to believe it. Can anyone cite a documented use of this terminology? -- Chris Bennett
