The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy , independent of Britain , was recognised at the 1923 Imperial Conference . Britain 's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of the Chanak Crisis the previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa , and Canada had refused to be bound by the Treaty of Lausanne ( 1923 ) . After pressure from the Irish Free State and South Africa , the 1926 Imperial Conference issued the Balfour Declaration of 1926 , declaring the Dominions to be " autonomous Communities within the British Empire , equal in status , in no way subordinate one to another " within a " British Commonwealth of Nations " . This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 Statute of Westminster . The parliaments of Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Union of South Africa , the Irish Free State and Newfoundland were now independent of British legislative control , they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent . Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933 , suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression . The Irish Free State distanced itself further from the British state with the introduction of a new constitution in 1937 , making it a republic in all but name
1926 Imperial Conference
1926 Imperial Conference
British Empire