The Reid Commission was an independent commission responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya prior to Malayan independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 31 August 1957. Constitutional conference A constitutional conference was held in London from 18 January to 6 February 1956 attended by a delegation from the Federation of Malaya, consisting of four representatives of the Malay Rulers, the Chief Minister of the Federation (Tunku Abdul Rahman) and three other ministers, and also by the British High Commissioner in Malaya and his advisers. The conference proposed the appointment of an independent commission to devise a constitution for a fully self-governing and independent Federation of Malaya. This proposal was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Malay rulers. Appointment of Reid Commission members In March 1956, an independent commission to draw up a constitution for a fully self-governing and independent Malaya was set up. Accordingly, a commission headed by Lord Reid, a distinguished Lord of Appeal in ordinary, and consisting of constitutional experts from fellow Commonwealth countries was appointed by the Queen Elizabeth II and the Malay Rulers. The commission was appropriately called the Reid Commission. The commission was to include a Canadian representative, but Canada's nominee was unable to attend for reasons of ill health. Lord Reid - United Kingdom (Chairman) Sir Ivor Jennings - United Kingdom Sir William McKell - Australia Hakim B. Malik - India Sheikh Hakim Halim bin Abdul Hamid - Pakistan Meetings and receiving memoranda The Reid Commission met 118 times between June and October 1956.and received 131 memoranda from various individuals and organisations, including proposals from the Alliance Party and the Conference of Rulers. Submitting report The commission submitted its working draft on 21 February 1957, which was scrutinised by a Working Committee. The Working Committee consisted of four representatives from the Malay rulers, another four from the Alliance government, the British High Commissioner, the Chief Secretary, and the Attorney General. Table of contents Chapter I – General Introduction Chapter II – Historical Introduction Chapter III – Citizenship Chapter IV – Parliament and the Executive Chapter V – Division of Legislative and Executive Powers Chapter VI – The Judiciary Chapter VII – Finance Chapter VIII – The Public Services Chapter IX – Fundamental Rights Chapter X – The States Chapter XI – The Settlements Chapter XII – Summary of Recommendations Drafting constitution Although enshrining concepts