TNAG-1117-FCO40-1391-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1982 — Page 157

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THE COMMONWEALTH

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any rate one of the principal uses of the collective title is to distinguish the countries which it comprises from countries outside the Commonwealth. Obviously, the dependent territories cannot be ignored. True, it is only the nations (the Members) of the Com- monwealth to whom other states look directly in their international relations. But the responsibility of Members to other states extends to their dependent territories, and their international personality, so to speak, is shared by those territories. In short, in the international sphere the Commonwealth consists of the independent nations within it together with dependent territories for which they are responsible.

(3) The

club" argument, as it is put above, is not available in interpreting the Commonwealth." That expression is merely an abbreviated form of the "Commonwealth of Nations" or the British Commonwealth of Nations ""; and the three expressions have the same meaning. As the shortest clearly covers the dependent terri- tories, so too must the others.

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41

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(4) Analogy by itself is a weak prop for any argument on interpre- tation, and in the light of the directly relevant considerations set out above, it cannot be said that dependent territories are outside the Commonwealth of Nations except by pressing the analogy of the club too far.

Comparison with "British Empire"

This is a quasi-political matter and one cannot disregard minis- terial statements. Mr. Attlee (as he then was), in his reply quoted in the introduction to this Chapter, clearly regarded the British Com- monwealth as the same as the British Empire. Indeed, as long ago as 1926, there was an implication to the like effect in a speech made by General Hertzog at the Imperial Conference. There is. of course, no doubt that "the British Empire," q.v., is a term which has always embraced dependent countries.

Conclusion

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There appears to be no room for reasonable doubt, therefore, that if required to decide, without a definition or some other ́aid to con. struction, what is meant by a phrase such as country within the Commonwealth," the Courts would hold that it embraces not only each Member of the Commonwealth but also countries dependent

the League of Nations in an Annex to the Covenant. See Treaty Series, 1919, No. 4, No. 6 (Assistance to France), No. 7 (Occupation of the Rhine) and No. 8 (Poland).

The Commonwealth' means "the British Commonwealth of Nations," 5. 8 (1) of the Visiting Forces (British Commonwealth) Act, 1933, supra. All these expressions were used in the declaration of Commonwealth Prime Ministers of April 1949, mentioned on p. 9, supra.

41 e.8..

42 Cmd. 2769, pp. 23-24.