A
dominion, often Dominion, refers
to one of a group of semi-autonomous
polities that were nominally under British
sovereignty,
constituting the British Empire and
British Commonwealth, from
the late 19th century. They included (at varying times) Canada
, Australia, New Zealand
, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State. After 1948, the term
was used to denote independent nations that retained the British monarch as head of state; these included Pakistan
, Ceylon
, and
Kenya.
Definition
In English
common law, the dominions of the Crown referred to all the
realms and territories under the sovereignty of the Crown, e.g. the
Order-in-Council annexing Cyprus
in 1914
provided that "... the said Island shall be annexed to and
form part of His Majesty's Dominions and the said Island is annexed
accordingly".
Use of the
word dominion, to refer to a particular territory, dates
back to the 16th century, and was used to describe Wales
from 1535 to
around 1800. Dominion, as an official title, was
first conferred on
Virginia,
circa 1660 and the
Dominion of
New England in 1686. These dominions never had semi-autonomous
or self-governing status. Canada received the title upon
Confederation in 1867 of
several British colonies in North
America.
The
Colonial Conference of
1907 was the first time the self-governing colonies of Canada
and the Commonwealth of Australia would be referred to collectively
as "Dominions". Two other
self-governing colonies, New Zealand
and Newfoundland, were also granted the title that year. They were
followed by South Africa (1910) and the Irish Free State
(1922).
Dominion status was officially defined in the
Balfour Declaration (1926) and
in the
Statute of
Westminster (1931), which recognized these territories as
"autonomous Communities within the British Empire," establishing
these states as equals to the United Kingdom, making them
essentially independent members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Following the
Second World War, the
decline of British colonialism led to Dominions generally being
referred to as
Commonwealth
realms, the use of the word gradually diminished within these
countries after this time. Nonetheless, though disused, it
remains Canada's legal title; moreover, the phrase
Her Majesty's Dominions continues occasionally in modern
legal usage in the UK.
Historical development
Overseas dominions
Dominions originally referred to any possession of the British
Empire.
Oliver Cromwell's full title
in the 1650s was "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging". In
1660, King
Charles II gave the
Colony of Virginia the title
"Dominion" in gratitude for Virginia's loyalty to the Crown during
the English Civil War; the state still retains "
Old Dominion" as its nickname. The name also
occurred in the short-lived
Dominion of New England (1686-1689).
In all of these cases,
dominion implied being a subject of
the Empire.
Responsible Government
The foundation of "Dominion" status was the achievement of internal
self-rule in the form of "
responsible government".
Responsible government
in British colonies began to emerge in the 1840s (typically with
Nova Scotia cited as the first colony to achieve it in early
1848) and was granted to most of the major
settler colonies (British North
America, Australia, and New Zealand
) by 1856. Most of the
territories of British North America were joined in a federal union
between 1867 and 1873 under the authority of the
British North America Act which
termed the new entity a "Dominion" (section 3 of the British North
America Act).
Australia and New Zealand were also designated
dominions
in 1907. The
Australian Constitutions Act 1850 established
the machinery for the four then existing
Australian colonies (namely New South Wales,
Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia) to establish
Parliaments and responsible government once certain conditions had
been met; it also provided for the separation of Victoria from New
South Wales and its establishment as a separate colony (which
occurred in 1851) with similar capacity to attain self-government.
New South Wales
, Victoria
, South
Australia
, and
Tasmania
, along with New Zealand
, attained responsible government soon after in
1856; self-government for Western Australia
was delayed until 1891, mainly because of
continuing financial dependence on Britain. Queensland
was separated from New South Wales
and established as a separate colony in
1859. This left a large piece of territory in northern
Australia still technically part of NSW though physically separated
from it. This territory was transferred in part to Queensland and
the remainder to South Australia in 1863 – the South Australian
section being eventually transferred to the Commonwealth of
Australia as the federal Northern Territory in 1911.
South Africa became a dominion in 1910.
Its
colonies had become self-governing earlier, with the Cape Colony being the first in 1872; this was
followed by Natal (1893), Transvaal
(1906), and the Orange River Colony (1907).
Canada and Confederation
The 20th
century usage of the term "Dominion" can be traced to a suggestion
by Samuel Leonard Tilley at
the London Conference of December
1866 discussing the confederation of four of the British North American colonies,
Canada (subsequently the
provinces of Ontario
and Quebec
), New Brunswick
and Nova
Scotia
, into "One Dominion under the Name of Canada", the
first federation in the British Empire. Tilley's suggestion
was taken from Psalm 72:8, "He shall have dominion also from sea to
sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" which is echoed
in the national motto "
A Mari Usque
Ad Mare". The new Canadian government subsequently used
"Dominion of Canada" to designate the new, larger colony. Neither
Confederation nor the adoption of the Dominion title, however,
granted extra autonomy or new powers to the new federal level of
government. Senator
Eugene Forsey
documents that the powers acquired since the 1840s that established
the system of
Responsible
Government would simply be transferred to the new Dominion
government:
- "By the time of Confederation in 1867, this system had
been operating in most of what is now central and eastern Canada
for almost 20 years. The Fathers of Confederation
simply continued the system they knew, the system that was already
working, and working well."
Constitutional scholar
Andrew Heard
establishes that Confederation did not legally change Canada's
colonial status to anything approaching its later dominion status.
- At its inception in 1867, Canada's colonial status was
marked by political and legal subjugation to British Imperial
supremacy in all aspects of government - legislative, judicial, and
executive. The Imperial Parliament at Westminster
could legislate on any matter to do with Canada and could override
any local legislation, the final court of appeal for Canadian
litigation lay with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in
London, the Governor General had a substantive role as a
representative of the British government, and ultimate executive
power was vested in the British Monarch - who was advised only by
British Ministers in its exercise. Canada's
independence came about as each of these sub-ordinations was
eventually removed.
Heard goes on to document the sizable body of legislation passed by
the British Parliament in the latter part of the 19th century that
would uphold and expand its imperial supremacy to constrain its
colonies, including the new Dominion government.
- When the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867 it was
granted powers of self-government to deal with all internal
matters, but Britain still retained overall legislative
supremacy. This imperial supremacy could be
exercised through several statutory measures. In the
first place, the Constitution Act of 1867 provides in s.55 that the
Governor General may reserve any legislation passed by the two
Houses of Parliament for "the signification of Her Majesty's
pleasure", which is determined according to s.57 by the (British)
Queen in Council. Secondly, s.56 provides that the
Governor General must forward to "one of Her Majesty's Principal
Secretary's of State" in London a copy of any federal legislation
that has been assented to; within two years after the receipt of
this copy, the (British) Queen in Council can disallow an
Act. Thirdly, four pieces of Imperial legislation
constrained the Canadian legislatures. The Colonial
Laws Validity Act of 1865 provided that no colonial law could
validly conflict with, amend or repeal Imperial legislation which
explicitly or by necessary implication applied directly to that
colony; the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 as well as the Colonial
Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890 required reservation of Dominion
legislation on those topics for approval by the British Government;
and, the Colonial Stock Act of 1900 provided for the dis-allowance
of Dominion legislation which the British government felt would
harm British stockholders of Dominion trustee securities.
Most importantly, however, the British Parliament could
exercise the legal right of supremacy it possessed at common law to
pass any legislation on any matter affecting the
colonies.
However, as Heard later explains, the British government rarely
invoked its powers over Canadian legislation. Indeed, in the
Canadian context, British legislative powers over Canadian domestic
policy were largely theoretical and their exercise was increasingly
unacceptable in the 1870s and 1880s. The rise to dominion status
and then full independence for Canada and other colonies would not
occur by the granting of titles or similar recognition by the
British Parliament, but by initiatives taken by colonial
governments to assert their independence and establish legal
constitutional precedents.
- What is remarkable about this whole process is that it
was achieved with a minimum of legislative amendments.
Much of Canada's independence arose from the development of
new political arrangements, many of which have been absorbed into
judicial decisions interpreting the constitution - with or without
explicit recognition. Canada's passage from being an
integral part of the British Empire to being an independent member
of the Commonwealth richly illustrates the way in which fundamental
constitutional rules have evolved through the interaction of
constitutional convention, international law, and municipal statute
and case law.
The Colonial Conference of 1907
Issues of colonial self-government spilled into foreign affairs
with the
Boer War (1899-1902). The
self-governing colonies contributed significantly to British
efforts to stem the insurrection, but assured that they set the
conditions for participation in these wars. Colonial governments
repeatedly acted to assure that they determined the extent of their
peoples' participation in imperial wars in the military build-up to
the
First World War.
The assertiveness of the self-governing colonies was recognised in
the
Colonial Conference of 1907,
which implicitly introduced the idea of the Dominion as a
self-governing colony by referring to Canada and Australia as
Dominions. It also retired the name "Colonial Conference" and
mandated that meetings take place regularly to consult Dominions in
the running the foreign affairs of the empire.
The
Colony of New
Zealand
, which chose not to take part in Australian
federation, quickly became the Dominion of New Zealand on 26
September 1907; Newfoundland became a Dominion on
the same day. The newly-created
Union of South Africa would also be
referred to as a Dominion in 1910.
The First World War and the Treaty of Versailles
The initiatives and contributions of British colonies to the
British war effort in the First World War were recognized by
Britain with the creation of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917,
which gave them a say in the running of the war. Dominion status as
self-governing states, as opposed to symbolic titles granted
various British colonies, would wait until 1919 when the
self-governing Dominions signed the Treaty of Versailles
independently of the British government and became distinct members
of the League of Nations. This ended the purely colonial status of
the dominions.
- "The First World War ended the purely colonial
period in the history of the Dominions.
Their military contribution to the Allied war effort
gave them claim to equal recognition with other small states and a
voice in the formation of policy. This
claim was recognized within the Empire by the creation of the
Imperial War Cabinet in 1917, and within the community of nations
by Dominion signatures to the Treaty of Versailles and by separate
Dominion representation in the League of Nations.
In this way the "self-governing Dominions", as they were
called, emerged as junior members of the international
community. Their status defied exact
analysis by both international and constitutional lawyers, but it
was clear that they were no longer to be regarded simply as
colonies of Britain."
The Irish Free State
Irish Free State in 1922, after the
Anglo-Irish War. All retained the
same monarch as
head of state,
represented locally by a
governor-general appointed in consultation
with the Dominion government. The Irish Free State, led by
W. T. Cosgrave was the first Dominion to appoint a
non-British, non-aristocratic Governor-General, when
Timothy Michael Healy took the
position in 1922.
Dominion status was never popular in the
Irish Free State/Ireland
, where people saw it as a face-saving measure for a
British government unable
to countenance a republic in what had
previously been the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland
. Successive Irish governments undermined the
constitutional links with Britain, until they were severed
completely in 1949. In 1930, the Australian Prime Minister,
James Scullin, reinforced the right of
the overseas Dominions to appoint native-born governors-general,
when he advised King
George V to appoint Sir
Isaac Isaacs as his representative in
Australia, against the wishes of the opposition and officials in
London.
The Second Balfour Declaration and the Statute of
Westminster
The
Balfour Declaration of 1926
(there'd been one in 1917), and the subsequent
Statute of Westminster, 1931,
ended Britain's ability to pass or affect laws outside of its own
jurisdiction. Significantly, it was Britain which initiated the
change to complete independence for the Dominions.
World War I had left Britain saddled with
enormous debts and the Great Depression had further reduced
Britain's ability to pay for the defence of its empire. In spite of
popular opinions of empires, the larger Dominions were reluctant to
leave the protection of the then-superpower. For example, many
Canadians felt that being part of the British Empire was the only
thing that had prevented them from being absorbed into the United
States.
Until
1931, Newfoundland was referred to as a colony of the United
Kingdom, as for example, in the 1927 reference to the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council
to delineate the Quebec-Labrador boundary.
Full
autonomy was granted by the United Kingdom
parliament with the Statute of Westminster in
December 1931. However, the government of Newfoundland
"requested the United Kingdom not to have sections 2 to
6[—]confirming Dominion status[—]apply automatically to it[,] until
the Newfoundland Legislature first approved the Statute, approval
which the Legislature subsequently never gave." In any event,
Newfoundland's
letters patent of 1934
suspended self-government and instituted a "
Commission of Government," which
continued until Newfoundland became a
province of Canada in
1949. It is the view of some constitutional lawyers that—although
Newfoundland chose not to exercise all of the functions of a
Dominion like Canada—its status as a Dominion was "suspended" in
1934, rather than "revoked" or "abolished".
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa
(prior to becoming a republic and leaving the Commonwealth in
1961), with their large populations of European descent, were
sometimes collectively referred to as the "White Dominions." Today
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are sometimes
referred to collectively as the "
White
Commonwealth."
The United Kingdom and its component parts never aspired to the
title of "Dominion," remaining anomalies within the network of free
and independent equal members of the empire and Commonwealth.
However,
the idea has on occasions been floated by some in Northern
Ireland
as an alternative to a United Ireland if they felt uncomfortable
within the United Kingdom.
The Dominions
Australia
Four colonies of Australia had enjoyed responsible government since
1856: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
Queensland had responsible government soon after its founding in
1859 but, because of ongoing financial dependence on Britain,
Western Australia became the last Australian colony to attain
self-government in 1890. During the 1890s, the colonies voted to
unite and in 1901 they were federated under the British Crown as
the
Commonwealth of
Australia by the
Commonwealth of
Australia Constitution Act.The
Constitution of Australia had been
drafted in Australia and approved by popular consent. Thus
Australia is one of the few countries established by a popular
vote. Under the second
Balfour
Declaration, the federal government was regarded as coequal
with (and not subordinate to) the British and other Dominion
governments, and this was given formal legal recognition in 1942
(when the
Statute of
Westminster was retroactively adopted to the commencement
of the Second World War 1939). The governments of the states
(called colonies before 1901) remained under the Commonwealth but
retained vestigial links to the British Parliament until the
passage of the
Australia Act
1986.
Canada
- See also: Name of
Canada
Dominion is the legal title
conferred on Canada
in the
Constitution of Canada,
namely the Constitution Act,
1867 (British North
America Acts), and describes the resulting political
union. Specifically, the
preamble of the BNA Act indicates:
- Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New
Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into
One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of
the United Kingdom ...
and, furthermore, sections 3 and 4 indicate that the
provinces:
- ... shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of
Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form
and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly.
- Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name
Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this
Act.
Usage of the term
Dominion of Canada was sanctioned as the
country's formal political name in 1867 and it predates the general
use of the term 'dominion' as applied to the other autonmous
regions of the
British Empire in
1907. Some still read the BNA Act passage as specifying this phrase
– rather than
Canada alone – as the name. The term
Dominion of Canada does not appear in the 1867 act nor in
the
Constitution Act, 1982
but does appear in the
Constitution Act,
1871, other contemporaneous texts, and subsequent bills.
References to the
Dominion of Canada in later acts, such
as the
Statute of
Westminster, do not clarify the point because all nouns were
formally
capitalised in British
legislative style. Indeed, in the original text of the BNA Act,
"One" and "Name" were also capitalised.
Starting in the 1950s, the federal government began to phase out
the use of
Dominion, which had been used largely as a
synonym of "federal" or "national" such as "Dominion building" for
a post office, "Dominion-provincial relations", and so on. The last
major change was renaming the national holiday from
Dominion Day to
Canada
Day in 1982. Official
bilingualism
laws also contributed to the disuse of
dominion, as it has
no acceptable equivalent in
French.
While the
term may be found in older official documents, and the Dominion Carillonneur still tolls at Parliament
Hill
, it is rarely used any more to distinguish the
federal government from the provinces or (historically) Canada
before and after 1867. Nonetheless, the federal government
continues to produce publications and educational materials that
specify the currency of these official titles.
Defenders of the title
Dominion — including
monarchists who see signs of creeping
republicanism in Canada —
take comfort in the fact that the Constitution Act, 1982 does not
mention and therefore does not remove the title, and that a
constitutional amendment would be required to change it.
The word
Dominion has been used with other agencies, laws,
and roles:
Toronto-Dominion Bank (founded
as the Bank of Toronto in 1855), the
Dominion of Canada
General Insurance Company (founded in 1887), the
Dominion Institute (created in 1997), and
Dominion Stores (founded in 1927,
renamed as
Metro stores beginning in
August 2008) are notable Canadian corporations not affiliated with
government that have used
Dominion as a part of their
corporate name.
Ceylon/Sri Lanka
Ceylon
, which, as a
crown colony, was originally promised "fully responsible status
within the British Commonwealth of Nations", was formally granted
independence as a Dominion in 1948. In 1972 it adopted a
republican constitution to become the Free, Sovereign and
Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. By a new constitution in 1978,
it became the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan
India
acquired
responsible government in 1909, though the first Parliament did not
meet until 1919. India and Pakistan
separated as independent dominions in 1947.
India became a republic in 1950 and Pakistan adopted a republican
form of government in 1956.
Irish Free State/Ireland
The
Irish Free State was a British
Dominion between 1922 and 1949. In the 1930s the Irish stopped
participating at Commonwealth conferences and events.
In 1937 the Irish
people established a new state with name Ireland
under a new constitution. However, the
United Kingdom and other members of the Commonwealth continued to
regard Ireland as being a dominion owing to the unusual role
accorded to the British Monarch under the Irish
External Relations Act. Ultimately,
however, Ireland's
Oireachtas passed the
Republic of Ireland
Act which came into force in 1949 and unequivocally ended
Ireland's links with the British Monarch and the
Commonwealth.
Upon the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922,
with dominion status to be in the likeness of Canada, provision was
made for Northern Ireland to join the new dominion but with the
right to opt out. However, as was widely expected at the time, on
the day after the signing of the
Anglo-Irish Treaty, the
Parliament of Northern
Ireland chose, under the terms of that treaty, to
opt
out.
Newfoundland
The colony of
Newfoundland
enjoyed responsible government from 1855-1934. It was among the
colonies to be declared dominions in 1907. Following the
recommendations of a Royal Commission, parliamentary government was
suspended in 1934. In 1949, the
Dominion of Newfoundland joined
Canada and the legislature was restored.
New Zealand
The
New Zealand
Constitution Act 1852 gave the colony of New Zealand
its own Parliament (General Assembly) and home rule
in 1852. In 1907 New Zealand was proclaimed the
Dominion of New Zealand. New
Zealand, Canada, and Newfoundland actually used the word dominion
in the official title of the nation, whereas Australia used the
name
Commonwealth of
Australia and South Africa used the name
Union of South Africa. New Zealand
adopted the
Statute of Westminster
in 1947 and in the same year, legislation was passed in London
which gave New Zealand full powers to amend its own constitution.
In 1986, the New Zealand parliament passed the
Constitution Act 1986 which repealed
the Constitution Act of 1852.
South Africa
The
Union of South Africa was
formed in 1910 from the four self-governing colonies of the
Cape of Good
Hope
, Natal, the Transvaal
, and the Orange Free State
(the last two were former Boer
republics). The
South
Africa Act 1909 provided for a Parliament consisting of a
Senate and a House of Assembly. The provinces had their own
legislatures. In 1961, the Union of South Africa adopted a new
constitution, left the Commonwealth, and became the present-day
Republic of South Africa.
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a special case in the
British Empire. Although it was never a
dominion, it was treated as a dominion in many respects. Southern
Rhodesia was created in 1923 out of the territories of the
British South Africa Company.
It was created as a self governing colony with substantial autonomy
on the model of the dominions. However, the imperial authorities in
London continued to retain direct powers over native affairs.
Southern Rhodesia was not included as one of the territories that
were mentioned in the 1931
Statute of Westminster although
matters in relation to Southern Rhodesia were administered in
London through the
Dominion Office
as opposed to through the
Colonial
Office. When the dominions were first treated as foreign
countries by London for the purposes of diplomatic immunity in
1952, Southern Rhodesia was also included in the list of
territories concerned.
This semi-dominion status continued in
Southern Rhodesia even for the ten years, 1953-1963, when it was
joined with Northern
Rhodesia
and Nyasaland in the
Central African
Federation, even though the latter two continued with their own
status as British protectorates. When Northern Rhodesia was
given independence in 1964 it adopted the new name of Zambia, and
Southern Rhodesia simply reverted to the name
Rhodesia.
Rhodesia
unilaterally declared independence from the UK in 1965 as a result
of being pressurized into accepting the principles of black
majority rule. This state of UDI (unilateral declaration of
independence) was considered by London to be illegal, sanctions
were applied, and Rhodesia was expelled from the
sterling area. Nevetherless, Rhodesia
continued with its dominion style constitution until 1970, and
continued to issue British passports to its citizens. These
Rhodesian issue British Passports were only recognized by Portugal
and South Africa. In the period from 1965 to 1970, the Rhodesian
government continued its loyalty to the Sovereign despite being in
a state of rebellion against her Majesty's government in London.
However, in 1970, Rhodesia finally decided to adopt a republican
constitution and in 1980 it was finally granted legal independence
by the UK following the transition to black majority rule. The new
name of Zimbabwe was then adopted.
Foreign relations
Initially, the Foreign Office of the
United
Kingdom
conducted the foreign relations of the
Dominions. A Dominions section was created within the
Colonial Office for this purpose in 1907. Canada set up its own
Department
of External Affairs in June 1909, but diplomatic relations with
other governments continued to operate through the
governors-general, Dominion High Commissioners in London (first
appointed by Canada in 1880; Australia followed only in 1910), and
British legations abroad.
Britain deemed her declaration of war
against Germany
in August 1914 to extend to all territories of the
Empire without the need for consultation, occasioning some
displeasure in Canadian official circles and contributing to a
brief anti-British insurrection by Afrikaner militants in South Africa later that
year. A Canadian War Mission in Washington,
D.C.
dealt with supply matters from February 1918 to
March 1921.
Although the Dominions had had no formal voice in declaring war,
each became a separate signatory of the June 1919 peace
Treaty of Versailles, which had been
negotiated by a British-led united Empire delegation. In September
1922, Dominion reluctance to support
British military action against
Turkey influenced Britain's decision to seek
a compromise settlement. Diplomatic autonomy soon followed, with
the U.S.-Canadian
Halibut Treaty
(March 1923) marking the first time an international agreement had
been entirely negotiated and concluded independently by a Dominion.
The Dominions Section of the
Colonial
Office was upgraded in June 1926 to a separate Dominions
Office; however, initially, this office was held by the same person
that held the office of
Secretary of State for the
Colonies.
The principle of Dominion equality with Britain and independence in
foreign relations was formally recognised by the
Balfour Declaration, adopted at the
Imperial Conference of November
1926. Canada's first permanent diplomatic mission to a foreign
country opened in Washington, D.C. in 1927.
In 1928, Canada
obtained the appointment of a British high commissioner in Ottawa
, separating
the administrative and diplomatic functions of the governor-general
and ending the latter's anomalous role as the representative of the
British government in relations between the two countries.
The Dominions Office was given a separate
secretary of state
in June 1930, though this was entirely for domestic political
reasons given the need to relieve the burden on one ill minister
whilst moving another away from unemployment policy. The Balfour
Declaration was enshrined in the
Statute of Westminster 1931 when
it was adopted by the British Parliament and subsequently ratified
by the Dominion legislatures.
Britain's declaration of
hostilities
against Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939 tested the issue. Most
took the view that the declaration did not commit the Dominions.
Ireland chose to remain neutral. At the other extreme, the
conservative Australian government of the day, led by
Robert Menzies, took the view that, since
Australia had not adopted the Statute of Westminster, it was
legally bound by the UK declaration of war – which had also been
the view at the outbreak of World War I – although this was
contentious within Australia. Between these two extremes, New
Zealand declared that as Britain was or would be at war, so it was
too. This was, however, a matter of political choice rather than
legal necessity. Canada issued its own declaration of war after a
recall of Parliament, as did South Africa after a delay of several
days (South Africa on September 6, Canada on September 10).
Ireland
, which had negotiated the removal of British forces
from its territory the year before, chose to remain neutral
throughout the war. There were soon signs of growing
independence from the other Dominions: Australia opened a
diplomatic mission in the US in 1940, as did New Zealand in 1941,
and Canada's mission in Washington gained embassy
status in 1943.
From Dominions to Commonwealth realms
Initially, the Dominions conducted their own trade policy, some
limited foreign relations and had autonomous
armed forces, although the British government
claimed and exercised the exclusive power to declare wars. However,
after the passage of the
Statute of Westminster the
language of dependency on the Crown of the United Kingdom ceased,
where the Crown itself was no longer referred to as the Crown of
any place in particular but simply as "the Crown." Arthur
Berriedale Keith, in Speeches and Documents on the British
Dominions 1918-1931, stated that "the Dominions are sovereign
international States in the sense that the King in respect of each
of His Dominions (Newfoundland excepted) is such a State in the
eyes of international law." After then, those countries that were
previously referred to as "Dominions" became independent realms
where the sovereign reigns no longer as the British monarch, but as
monarch of each nation in its own right, and are considered equal
to the UK and one another.
World War II, which fatally undermined
Britain's already weakened commercial and financial leadership,
further loosened the political ties between Britain and the
Dominions.
Australian Prime Minister John Curtin's unprecedented action (February
1942) in successfully countermanding an order from British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill that
Australian troops be diverted to defend British-held Burma
(the 7th
Division was then en route from the Middle East to Australia to
defend against an expected Japanese invasion) demonstrated that
Dominion governments might no longer subordinate their own national
interests to British strategic perspectives. To ensure that
Australia had full legal power to act independently, particularly
in relation to foreign affairs, defence industry and military
operations, and to validate its past independent action in these
areas, Australia formally adopted the Statute of Westminster in
October 1942 and backdated the adoption to the start of the war in
September 1939.
The
Dominions Office merged with the India
Office as the Commonwealth Relations Office
upon the independence of India
and Pakistan
in August 1947. The last country to
be officially made a Dominion was Ceylon
in
1948. The term "Dominion" fell out of general use
thereafter.
Ireland
ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth on 1
April 1949, following proclamation of the Republic of Ireland Act. This
formally signaled the end of the former dependencies' common
constitutional connection to the British crown. India also adopted
a republican constitution in January 1950. Unlike many dependencies
which became republics, Ireland never re-joined the Commonwealth
and agreed to accept the British Monarch as head of that
association of independent states.
The independence of the separate realms was emphasised after the
accession of Queen
Elizabeth II in 1952,
when she was proclaimed not just as Queen of the UK, but also
Queen of Canada,
Queen of Australia,
Queen of New Zealand, and of all her
other "realms and territories" etc. This also reflected the change
from
Dominion to
realm; in the proclamation of
Queen Elizabeth
II's new titles in 1953, the phrase "of her other Realms and
Territories," replaced "Dominion" with another mediaeval French
word with the same connotation, "realm" (from
royaume).
Thus, recently, when referring to one of those sixteen countries
within the Commonwealth of Nations that share the same monarch, the
term
Commonwealth realm
has come into common usage instead of
Dominion to
differentiate the Commonwealth nations that continue to share the
monarch as
head of
state (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc.) from
those which do not (India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc.). The term
"Dominion" is still to be found in the
Canadian constitution where it appears
numerous times; however, it is largely a vestige of the past, as
the Canadian government does not actively use it (
see Canada section). The term "realm" does not
appear in the Canadian constitution. Present-day general usage
prefers the term
realm because it includes the United
Kingdom as well, emphasising equality, and no one nation being
subordinate to any other. Dominion, however, as a title,
technically remains a term that can be used in reference those
self-governing countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, other
than the United Kingdom itself, that are in a
personal union relationship with the
UK.
The generic language of dominion, however, did not cease in
relation to the Sovereign. It was, and is, used to describe those
territories in which the Monarch exercises her sovereignty, the
phrase
Her Majesty's dominions being a legal and
constitutional term used to refer to all the realms and territories
of the Sovereign, whether independent or not. Thus, for example,
the British
Ireland Act,
1949 recognised that the Republic of Ireland had "ceased
to be part of His Majesty’s dominions." When dependent territories
which had never been annexed (that is, were not colonies of the
Crown), but were protectorates or trust territories (of the United
Nations) were granted independence, the United Kingdom act granting
independence always declared that such and such a territory "shall
form part of Her Majesty’s dominions"; become part of the territory
in which the Queen exercises sovereignty, not merely
suzerainty.
Many of the distinctive characteristics which once pertained only
to Dominions are now shared by other states in the Commonwealth,
whether they are
republics, independent
realms, self-governing colonies or Crown colonies. Even in a
historical sense the differences between self-governing colonies
and Dominions have often been formal rather than substantial.
See also
Notes
- Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary (based on
Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster,
Inc.
- Order-in-Council, 5 November 1914.
- The Laws in Wales Act 1535 applies to
the Dominion, Principality and Country of Wales
- Parliamentary questions, Hansard, 5 November
1934
- Roberts, J.M.; The Penguin History of the World;
Penguin Books; London; 1995; p. 777; ISBN 357910864
- " Dominion". Youth Encyclopedia of
Canada (based on Canadian Encyclopedia).
Historica Foundation of Canada, 2008. Accessed 20 June 2008. "The
word "Dominion" is the official title of Canada. ... The term is
little used today."
- National Health Service Act 2006 (c. 41), sch. 22
- Link to the Australian Constitutions Act 1850
on the website of the National Archives of Australia: [1]
- Link to the New South Wales Constitution Act
1855, on the website of the National Archives of
Australia: [2]
- Link to the Victoria Constitution Act 1855, on
the website of the National Archives of Australia:[3]
- Link to the Constitution Act 1855 (SA), on the
website of the National Archives of Australia: [4]
- Link to the Constitution Act 185 (Tasmania),
on the website of the National Archives of Australia: [5]
- Link to the Constitution Act 1890, which
established self-government in Western Australia: [6]
- Link to the Order in Council of 6 June 1859 which established
the Colony of Queensland, on website of the National Archives of
Australia: [7]
- Link to the "Letters Patent annexing the Northern Territory to
South Australia, 1863" on the website of the Australian National
Archives: [8]
- Link to the Northern Territory Acceptance Act
1910 (Cth), which transferred the NT from SA to Cth
control, on the website of the Australian National Archives:
[9]
- "The London Conference December 1866 - March
1867"
- B.Hunter (ed), The Stateman's Year Book 1996-1997, Macmillan
Press Ltd, pp.130-156
- Order in Council of the UK Privy Council, 6 June 1859,
establishing responsible government in Queensland. See Australian
Government's "Documenting a Democracy" website at this webpage:
[10]
- Constitution Act 1890 (UK), which came into
effect as the Constitution of Western Australia when proclaimed in
WA on 21 October 1890, and establishing responsible government in
WA from that date. See Australian Government's "Documenting a
Democracy" website at this webpage: [11]
- D.Smith, Head of State, MaCleay Press 2005, p.18
- ibid., p.102
- J. E. Hodgetts. 2004. "Dominion". Oxford Companion to
Canadian History, Gerald Hallowell, ed. (ISBN 0195415590) p.
183: "... Ironically, defenders of the title dominion
who see signs of creeping republicanism in such changes can take
comfort in the knowledge that the Constitution Act, 1982, retains
the title and requires a constitutional amendment to alter
it."
- The Statesman's Year Book, p.635
- ibid., p.635
- ibid., p.1002
- On 7 December 1922 (the day after the establishment of the
Irish Free State) the Parliament resolved to
make the following address to the King so as to opt
out of the Irish Free State: ”MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN, We,
your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senators and
Commons of Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, having learnt
of the passing of the Irish Free State
Constitution Act, 1922, being the Act of Parliament for the
ratification of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between
Great Britain and Ireland, do, by this humble Address, pray your
Majesty that the powers of the Parliament and Government of the
Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland".
Source: Northern Ireland Parliamentary Report, 7 December
1922 and Anglo-Irish Treaty, sections 11, 12
- The Statesman's Year Book, p.302
- ibid., p.303
- ibid.
- HISTORY, CONSTITUTIONAL - The Legislative Authority
of the New Zealand Parliament - 1966 Encyclopaedia of New
Zealand
- Dominion status | NZHistory
- ibid
- ICL - New Zealand - Constitution Act 1986
- The Stateman’s Year Book p.1156
- Wikisource: South Africa Act 1909
- Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Act No. 56
of 1942). The long title for the Act was "To remove Doubts as to
the Validity of certain Commonwealth Legislation, to obviate Delays
occurring in its Passage, and to effect certain related purposes,
by adopting certain Sections of the Statute of Westminster, 1931,
as from the Commencement of the War between His Majesty the King
and Germany." Link: [12]
References
- Choudry, Sujit. 2001(?). "Constitution Acts" (based on looseleaf by
Hogg, Peter W.). Constitutional Keywords. University of Alberta,
Centre for Constitutional Studies: Edmonton.
- Holland, R.F., Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance
1918-1939, MacMillan, 1981
- Forsey, Eugene A. 2005. How Canadians Govern Themselves, 6th
ed. (ISBN 0-662-39689-8) Canada: Ottawa.
- Hallowell, Gerald, ed. 2004. The Oxford Companion to
Canadian History. (ISBN 0-19-541559-0) Oxford University
Press: Toronto; p. 183-4.
- Marsh, James H., ed. 1988. " Dominion" et al. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Hurtig
Publishers: Toronto.
- Martin, Robert. 1993(?). 1993 Eugene Forsey Memorial Lecture: A Lament for
British North America. The Machray Review. Prayer Book
Society of Canada.—A summative piece about nomenclature and
pertinent history with abundant references.
- Rayburn, Alan. 2001. Naming Canada: stories about Canadian
place names, 2nd ed. (ISBN 0-8020-8293-9) University of
Toronto Press: Toronto.