Statute of Westminster adopted
- When
- 25 November 1947
- Where
- Wellington · Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Reach
- Nationwide
Sixteen years after it was offered, New Zealand finally took full legal independence from the British Parliament — the last Dominion to do so.
The delay was not oversight but sentiment: New Zealand thought of itself as a British country and saw no reason to formalise a separation it did not want. The 1947 adoption was driven by practical wartime and postwar legislative needs. Appeals to the Privy Council continued until 2004, when the Supreme Court of New Zealand was established.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
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