What exactly IS the British Commonwealth these days, anyway? I mean, what does it do? What power does it wield, if any?
Not a lot. Occasionally they put pressure on members who are seen to be misbehaving: Nigeria was recently threatened with expulsion over its civil rights record, and pressure put on Pakistan and India over the build of tensions over Kashmir.
Do member nations get together from time to time?
Yes, there are "commonwealth conferences" of the heads of states of member nations. There is also the "Commonwealth Games", a mini-Olympics for member states, which also encompasses sports such as bowls and cricket. Naturally, Australia always win everything :)
I seem to remember that a place in Australia called the
'Hutt River Province' recently tried to declare itself semi-independant from Australia. It appealed somehow through legal channels to England.
- The international legal situation is clear since the passing of parallel acts of Parliament in Australia and England in the 1980's. The Australian High Court is the supreme legal authority for all Australian territory, and appeals to British courts are now impossible. The Hutt River Province got laughed out of court. --Robert Merkel
Note to all who might be confused by the move to "The Commonwealth": check out http://www.thecommonwealth.org, "The Commonwealth" is the correct name these days, not "British Commonwealth" or "Commonwealth of Nations". --Robert Merkel
Is the Commonwealth really an international organization? I'm pretty sure it does not possess legal personality under international law -- there is no treaty establishing AFAIK. In which case it is not an international organization, but simply an informal grouping of states like G-7 or G-77 or NAM. --
SJK
I think it was me who put "international organization" a long ago
because I did't think of any better term. Maybe it is wrong, so
i replaced it by "voluntary asssociation....etc" what is the
language they use in the website mentioned before.
"International organisation" is perfectly legitimate, although the Commonwealth lacks any supranational authority (i.e. the power to tell governments what they can do): "voluntary association" is nicer, I think, and more expressive of how members relate to the whole. -
David Parker
- I disagree with calling it an international organization. I'd only call it an international intergovernmental organization if it has legal personality under international law. Presence or absence of "supranational authority" has little or nothing to do with the issue of legal personality. -- SJK
Please define legal personality, SJK. Thanks. -
DP
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