The ideals of the Balfour Declaration could not be enforced, as the British parliament still had the right the revoke the declaration. After some investigation the South African Union Parliament decided to make the declaration into a law. The Parliament resented that the Imperial Conference had tried to go above it, and said it could not exceed the authority of parliament. It confirmed the findings of the Imperial Conference (1926 and 1930) and made the declaration a law.

The British Crown was now divisible and the king was monarch of each commonwealth country separately. A member of the commonwealth would now hold the position of Governor General. The laws of the dominion could now clash with those laws of Britain, the dominions could run their own foreign affairs and they could sign agreements with other countries. British laws no longer applied to the dominion and countries could leave the Commonwealth at the own choice.

Modern History Sourcebook: Statute of Westminster 1931

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