International Relations : Cultural, Ethnic, Linguistic & Religious Organisations
Consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statement 1 is correct. As of 2010, the Commonwealth of Nations operated without a formal, legally binding charter, treaty, or written constitution. Its functioning was guided by a series of consensus-based declarations, such as the 1971 Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles and the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration, which outlined its core values and objectives. These declarations served as foundational documents, but they did not constitute a formal charter or constitution in the traditional sense. It is noteworthy that the Commonwealth adopted its first formal Charter in 2013, which consolidated its values and principles.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Membership in the Commonwealth was not automatic for all territories or countries that were once under British rule. Joining the Commonwealth was a voluntary decision for each independent nation. For example, countries like Ireland and the United States, despite their historical links to the British Empire, chose not to become members. Furthermore, the Commonwealth's membership criteria evolved to allow countries with no historical ties to the British Empire, such as Mozambique (joined 1995) and Rwanda (joined 2009), to become members through consensus. This demonstrates that membership was neither automatic nor exclusively for former British territories.