Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria

The criteria for membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, which apply to current and prospective member states, have been altered by a series of documents issued over the past eighty-two years.

[1] The formation of the Commonwealth of Nations is dated back to the Statute of Westminster, an Act of the British Parliament passed on 11 December 1931.

The Statute established the independence of the Dominions, creating a group of equal members where, previously, there was one (the United Kingdom) paramount.

The immediate result of this was the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application, which it was required to lodge before becoming a republic, as its government's apartheid policies clearly contradicted the principle.

The fourteen points clarified the political freedom of its members, and dictated the core principles of the Commonwealth: world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.

[5] However, neither the terms nor the spirit of the Declaration were binding, and several openly flouted it; despite little conformity, only Fiji was ever expelled for breaching these tenets (on 15 October 1987, following the second coup of that year).

[9] On 29 May 1999, the day after the inauguration of Nigeria's first democratically elected President since the end of military rule, Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, the country's suspension was lifted, on the advice of the CMAG.

[10] In 1995, Mozambique, formerly a Portuguese colony, joined the Commonwealth, becoming the first member state to have never had a constitutional link with the United Kingdom.

[12] These requirements, which remain the same today, are that members must: On the advice of Secretary-General Don McKinnon, the 2005 CHOGM, held in Valletta, Malta, decided to re-examine the Edinburgh criteria.

[20] Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak stated that Rwanda's application "was boosted by its commitment towards democracy as well as the values espoused by the Commonwealth".

This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and confirm the opinion of many people and civic organisations that the leaders of its governments do not really care for democracy and human rights, and that its periodic, solemn declarations are merely hot air.