Statute of Westminster of 1931

an act passed by the British Parliament on Dec. 11, 1931, which defined the legal status of the dominions and their mutual relations with Great Britain.

The Statute of Westminster of 1931 gave legal force to the resolutions of the Empire Conferences of 1926 and 1930 on full independence for the dominions in their domestic and foreign affairs and on their equality with Great Britain. However, the mother country still retained de facto control over the foreign policy of the dominions. In confirming the sovereignty of the dominions, the Statute of Westminster asserted that the laws of Great Britain cannot be extended to the dominions without their consent. Also abolished was the state of affairs in which a dominion law was considered invalid if it was in conflict with the laws of Great Britain. The Statute of Westminster was evidence of the growth of the economic and political independence of the dominions.