Editing Statute of Westminster 1931 (section)

===Canada===

This statute limited the legislative authority of the British parliament over Canada, effectively giving the country legal autonomy as a self-governing Dominion, though the British parliament retained the power to amend Canada's constitution at the request of Canada. That authority remained in effect until the [[Constitution Act, 1982|''Constitution Act, 1982'']], which transferred it to Canada, the final step to achieving full sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/proclamation-constitution-act-1982/Pages/proclamation-constitution-act-1982.aspx |title=Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=5 May 2014 |website=Canada.ca |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-date=11 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211083245/http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/proclamation-constitution-act-1982/Pages/proclamation-constitution-act-1982.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/a-statute-worth-75-cheers/article1329730/|title=A statute worth 75 cheers|date=17 March 2009|access-date=10 February 2017|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081156/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/a-statute-worth-75-cheers/article1329730/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/2017/canada-is-celebrating-150-years-of-what-exactly-1.3883315 |title=Canada is celebrating 150 years of… what, exactly? |last=Couture |first=Christa |date=1 January 2017 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=10 February 2017 |quote=... the Constitution Act itself cleaned up a bit of unfinished business from the Statute of Westminster in 1931, in which Britain granted each of the Dominions full legal autonomy if they chose to accept it. All but one Dominion – that would be us, Canada – chose to accept every resolution. Our leaders couldn't decide on how to amend the Constitution, so that power stayed with Britain until 1982. |archive-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210001343/http://www.cbc.ca/2017/canada-is-celebrating-150-years-of-what-exactly-1.3883315 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
The [[British North America Acts]]—the written elements (in 1931) of the [[Constitution of Canada|Canadian constitution]]—were excluded from the application of the statute because of disagreements between the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian provinces]] and the federal government over how the British North America Acts could be otherwise amended.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/index.asp?lang=eng&page=hist&doc=westminster-eng.htm| last=Privy Council Office| title=Intergovernmental Affairs > History > Why, in 1931, Canada Chose Not to Exercise its Full Autonomy as Provided for Under the Statute of Westminster| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=21 June 2013| archive-date=5 August 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805231601/http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/index.asp?lang=eng&page=hist&doc=westminster-eng.htm}}</ref> These disagreements were resolved only in time for the passage of the [[Canada Act 1982|''Canada Act 1982'']], thus completing the [[patriation]] of the Canadian constitution to Canada.

At that time, the Parliament of the United Kingdom also repealed ss 4 and 7(1) of the Statute of Westminster as applied to Canada.<ref>Constitution Act, 1982, s 53(1) & Schedule, Item 17.</ref> The Statute of Westminster, as amended, remains a part of the constitution of Canada by virtue of section 52(2)(''b'') of and the schedule to the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The Newfoundland Terms of Union expressly provide for the application of the Statute of Westminster to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.<ref name="ReferenceA">Newfoundland Act, Schedule, Term 48.</ref>

As a consequence of the statute's adoption, the Parliament of Canada gained the ability to abolish appeals to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]. Criminal appeals were abolished in 1933,<ref>''Criminal Code Amendment Act'', S.C. 1932–33, c. 53, s. 17</ref> while civil appeals continued until 1949.<ref>''Supreme Court Amendment Act'', S.C. 1949 (2nd. session), c. 37, s. 3</ref> The passage of the Statute of Westminster meant that changes in British legislation governing the succession to the throne no longer automatically applied to Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/cru/2013/02/the_royal_succession_and_the_d.html |title=The royal succession and the de-patriation of the Canadian Constitution |author=Anne Twomey |date=4 February 2013 |access-date=4 March 2017 |archive-date=26 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426014326/http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/cru/2013/02/the_royal_succession_and_the_d.html }}</ref>