| Status of the Union Act, 1934 | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Parliament of South Africa | |
| |
| Citation | Act No. 69 of 1934 |
| Territorial extent | Union of South Africa |
| Enacted by | Parliament of South Africa |
| Royal assent | 22 June 1934 |
| Commenced | 22 August 1934 |
| Repealed | 31 May 1961 |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill title | Status of the Union Bill |
| Bill citation | A.B. 48 of 1934 |
| Introduced by | Oswald Pirow, Minister of Railways and Harbours |
| Introduced | 23 March 1934 |
| Repealed by | |
| Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 | |
| Related legislation | |
| South Africa Act, 1909 Statute of Westminster 1931 | |
| Status: Repealed | |
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 United Kingdom's involvement in the granting or refusal 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 J. B. M. 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.[1]
The Status of the Union Act was repealed by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961, which ended South Africa's membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and transformed it into a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.
- ^ Loveland, Ian (6 October 1999). By due process of law?: racial discrimination and the right to vote in South Africa, 1855–1960. Oxford: Hart Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-84113-049-1.