new zealand stopped being a dominion after the statute of westminster was passed by the united kingdom's parliament on 11 december 1931.
when did new zealand stop being a dominion after the statute of westminster was passed by the united kingdom's parliament?
11 december 1931
the statute of westminster 1931 is an act of the parliament of the united kingdom whose modified versions are now domestic law within australia and canada; it has been repealed in new zealand and implicitly in former dominions that are no longer commonwealth realms. passed on 11 december 1931, the act, either immediately or upon ratification, effectively both established the legislative independence of the self-governing dominions of the british empire from the united kingdom and bound them all to seek each other's approval for changes to monarchical titles and the common line of succession. 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 had the effect of making the dominions largely sovereign nations in their own right. it was a crucial step in the development of the dominions as separate states.
statute of westminster 1931
the new zealand constitution act 1852 gave 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 used the word dominion in the official title of the nation, whereas australia used commonwealth of australia and south africa union of south africa. new zealand adopted the statute of westminster in 1947 and in the same year legislation passed in london 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 in 1986, the new zealand parliament passed the constitution act 1986, which repealed the constitution act of 1852 and the last constitutional links with the united kingdom, formally ending its dominion status.
dominion