During the 1926 Imperial Conference , the governments of the Dominions and of the United Kingdom endorsed the Balfour Declaration of 1926 , which declared that the Dominions were autonomous members of the British Empire , equal to each other and to the United Kingdom . The Statute of Westminster 1931 gave legal effect to the Balfour Declaration and other decisions made at the Imperial Conferences . Most importantly , it declared that the Parliament of the United Kingdom no longer had any legislative authority over the Dominions . Previously , the Dominions were legally colonies of the United Kingdom , and thus had no legal international status . The Statute made the Dominions '' de jure '' independent nations
1926 Imperial Conference
1926 Imperial Conference
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942