Status of the Union Act, 1934

rdf:langString Status of the Union Act, 1934

rdf:langString Act No. 69 of 1934

rdf:langString Act to provide for the declaration of the Status of the Union of South Africa; for certain amendments of the South Africa Act, 1909, incidental thereto, and for the adoption of certain parts of the Statute of Westminster, 1931.

rdf:langString Status of the Union Act, 1934

rdf:langString repealed

rdf:langString The Status of the Union Act, 1934 (Act No. 69 of 1934) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that was the South African counterpart to the Statute of Westminster 1931. It declared the Union of South Africa to be a "sovereign independent state" and explicitly adopted the Statute of Westminster into South African law. It also removed any remaining power of the British Parliament to legislate for South Africa, and ended the King's direct involvement in the granting of Royal Assent. The Statute of Westminster applied to South Africa without needing ratification from its Parliament (unlike the case in Australia and New Zealand), so the Status Act was not legally necessary to establish South Africa's full sovereignty. It was, however, seen as a symbolic action by the Pact government of Prime Minister JBM Hertzog, coming as it did shortly before the merger of his National Party with Jan Smuts's South African Party to form the United Party. The Status of the Union Act was repealed by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961, which ended South Africa's membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and transformed it into a republic.

rdf:langString Status of the Union Bill

rdf:langString A.B. 48 of 1934