What is the Commonwealth?
Commonwealth of Nations
The following is an extract from a background note included in the Introduction to Law & Human Rights for Young People in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2003).
The modern Commonwealth dates from 1949. At a meeting in London that year, the Commonwealth Prime Ministers of the then eight countries of the Commonwealth: Australia, Britain, Canada, Ceylon ( as Sri Lanka was then known), India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa adopted the London Declaration. Before its adoption, constitutional allegiance to the British Crown was a condition of membership of the Commonwealth. After its adoption, this was no longer the case. Under what was called the “Nehru formula”, it was decided that the then British monarch would become the symbol of their association as free and independent States and as such the Head of the Commonwealth. However members would no longer need to have him/her as their Head of State and no longer swear an oath of allegiance. In fact the duties of the Head of the Commonwealth would be entirely distinct from those of the British monarch. This, in turn, meant that countries with republican Constitutions could be admitted and that India, which was about to become a republic, could therefore remain in the Commonwealth.
The London Declaration changed the whole character of the Commonwealth from a relic of Empire to a co-operative association based on the voluntary membership of free and sovereign States working to promote their mutual interest. The association formally became the “Commonwealth” and ceased to be the “British Commonwealth”.
Today the Commonwealth is the largest association of independent States after the United Nations. Its 54 member countries, with a total population estimated at 1.7 billion, span all major political groupings, regions and economic zones and comprise some of the largest (e.g. India with a population of close to a billion people;) and smallest (e.g. Nauru or Tuvalu with a population of approximately 12,000 people each;) countries in the world as well as some of poorest and richest. It embraces major parts of Africa and Asia, almost all of the Caribbean and much of the Pacific, as well as having members in Australasia, Europe and North America. It also contains a high proportion of small States, whose interests the Commonwealth is particularly anxious to protect. It embraces a variety of different political systems, but all member States acknowledge the British Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.
That States still value membership is shown by the fact that three countries that left the Commonwealth have since returned to membership. South Africa (withdrew in 1961 but returned in 1994); Pakistan (left in 1972 but returned in 1989 …) and Fiji Islands (membership lapsed in 1987 but returned in 1997 …).
All member States, with the exception of Mozambique and Rwanda, have experienced direct or indirect British rule or have been linked administratively to another Commonwealth country. In 1997, the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Edinburgh agreed that in order to become a member, a State must comply with three criteria:
§ It should have had a constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member state.
§ It should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991.
§ It should accept Commonwealth norms and conventions.
The Commonwealth is remarkable in that it has neither a charter nor any formal constitutional structure. Its members voluntarily co-operate with each other in furtherance of their common interests and seek to reach decisions by consensus. As a result, it has gone through a gradual evolution as its membership has expanded and issues of joint concern have changed. This is one of the things that make it distinct from the United Nations. The principles and aims of the organisation are set out in the form of Declarations or Statements which have been issued at the biennial meetings of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM).
The Commonwealth is administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat which was established in 1965. Up to that year the association’s affairs, including the meetings of its Prime Ministers, were administered by the British Government through the Commonwealth Relations Office. This was clearly unsatisfactory to newly-independent States and it was agreed to establish an independent Secretariat and thus turn the Commonwealth into a fully-fledged international organisation. Since then the Commonwealth Secretariat has been housed in Marlborough House, London. The Commonwealth Secretary-General heads the Secretariat. He (there has never been a woman Secretary-General) plays a key role in the association’s work on preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution. His “good offices” role in particular has helped resolve actual or potential internal crises in several Commonwealth countries. For example, in March 2002, he was mandated to “engage with the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that the specific recommendations from the Commonwealth Observer Group Report, notably on the management of future elections, in Zimbabwe are implemented”. His “good offices” role also now forms a key part of the work of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG).
For further information about the Commonwealth go to the following website:
Royal Commonwealth Society