National Party government in 1948, which instituted apartheid, and South Africa's withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961, ended any prospect of incorporation of the territories into South Africa.

Unlike some of their continental European counterparts, the Monarch and her Governors-General in the Commonwealth realms hold significant " reserve " or " prerogative " powers, to be wielded in times of extreme emergency or constitutional crises usually to uphold parliamentary government.

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act created a federal system, in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the States — the evolved status of the colonies.

In an Australian context, the term " Commonwealth " ( capitalised ) thus refers to the federal government and " Commonwealth of Australia " is the official name of the country.

** The Commonwealth — UK government site

The term Commonwealth is, however, loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 1649 to 1660, when England was de facto, and arguably de jure, a republic ( or, to monarchists, under the English Interregnum ).

On the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, his son, Richard Cromwell, inherited the title Lord Protector, but internal divisions among the republican party lead to his resignation, the end of the Protectorate and a second period of Commonwealth government by a Council of State and Parliament.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, ( CHOGM ), is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations.

The heads of government of five members of the Commonwealth of Nations at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers ' Conference.

Other meetings, such as those of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, Commonwealth Business Council, and respective foreign ministers, have also dealt with business away from the heads of government themselves.

The division between the United Kingdom during the government of Margaret Thatcher which resisted the call for sanctions and African Commonwealth countries was intense at times and led to speculation that the organization might collapse.

Convention is particularly important in the Commonwealth realms and other governments using the Westminster System of government, where many of the rules of government are unwritten.

The United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office delivered a note to the Ecuadorian government in Quito reminding them of the provisions of the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 which allow the British government to withdraw recognition of diplomatic protection from embassies ; the move was interpreted as a hostile act by Ecuador, with Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño stating that this " explicit threat " would be met with " appropriate responses in accordance with international law ".

Following Charles ' death, Oliver Cromwell set up the Commonwealth as a more pure form of government to replace the existing monarchy.

At the start of Chapter 2 on executive government, the Constitution says " The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative ".

The convention was gradually established throughout the Commonwealth that the Governor-General is a citizen of the country concerned, and is appointed on the advice of the government of that country.

As Australia shares its monarch equally with fifteen other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations and the sovereign lives predominantly outside New South Wales ' borders, the governor's primary task is to perform the sovereign's constitutional duties on his or her behalf, acting within the principles of parliamentary democracy and responsible government as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and as a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.

In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the nominal chief executive officer of the state, possessing executive power ( hence the description of the monarch's governments in the UK Commonwealth realms as His / Her Majesty's Government ; a term indicating that all power belongs to the sovereign and the government acts on Her Majesty's behalf, not parliament's ).

`` We, the Subscribers, do agree, that as soon as a convenient Number of Persons have subscribed to this, or a similar Writing, We will present a petition to the Hon'ble General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, praying for an Act incorporating into a Body politic the subscribers to such Writing with Liberty to build such a Bridge, and a Right to demand a Toll equal to that received at Malden Bridge, and on like Terms, and if such an Act shall be obtained, then we severally agree each with the others, that we will hold in the said Bridge the several shares set against our respective Names, the whole into two hundred shares being divided, and that we will pay such sums of Money at such Times and in such Manners, as by the said proposed Corporation, shall be directed and required ''.

This was particularly the case with Radcliffe-Brown, who spread his agenda for " Social Anthropology " by teaching at universities across the British Commonwealth.

* 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army was liberated in Baguio City and they fought against the Japanese forces under by General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

High above the city, near the small town of South Fork, the South Fork Dam was originally built between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as part of a canal system to be used as a reservoir for a canal basin in Johnstown.

With the coming-of-age of railroads superseding canal barge transport, the lake was abandoned by the Commonwealth, sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and sold again to private interests and eventually came to be owned by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club in 1881.

The area known as the Parliamentary Triangle is formed by three of Burley Griffin's axes, stretching from Capital Hill along Commonwealth Avenue to the Civic Centre around City Hill, along Constitution Avenue to the Defence precinct on Russell Hill, and along Kings Avenue back to Capital Hill.

For instance member nations of the Commonwealth where English is not spoken natively, such as India, often closely follow British English forms, while many American English usages are followed in other countries which have been historically influenced by the United States, such as the Philippines.

The song quickly gained popularity and an amended version was sung by a choir of 10, 000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901.

Along with the Bill of Rights 1689, it remains today one of the main constitutional laws governing the succession to not only the throne of the United Kingdom, but, following British colonialism, the resultant doctrine of reception, and independence, also to those of the other Commonwealth realms, whether by willing deference to the act as a British statute or as a patriated part of the particular realm's constitution.

Since the implementation of the Statute of Westminster 1931 in each of the Commonwealth realms ( on successive dates from 1931 onwards ), the Act of Settlement cannot be altered in any realm except by that realm's own parliament and, by convention, only with the consent of all the other realms, as it touches on the succession to the shared throne.

However, legislating for alterations to the Act is a complex process, since the act is a common denominator in the shared succession of all the Commonwealth realms and the Statute of Westminster 1931 acknowledges by established convention that any changes to the rules of succession may be made only with the agreement of all of the states involved, with concurrent amendments to be made by each state's parliament or parliaments.

Or, third, it incorporates the United Kingdom rules of succession into the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, which itself can now be altered only by Australia, according to the Australia Act 1986 ; in that way, the British rules of succession have been patriated to Australia and, with regard to Australia, are subject to amendment or repeal solely by Australian law.

by Sir Alan Walsh at the CSIRO ( Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization ), Division of Chemical Physics, in Melbourne, Australia.

* Southeast Alaska energy export study: final report / prepared for The Southeast Conference ; by D. Hittle & Associates, Inc., in association with Commonwealth Associates, Inc.

* Swan-Tyee intertie economic analysis / prepared for the Four Dam Pool Power Agency ; prepared by CAI, Commonwealth Associates, Inc.

It is now used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PFC Bahamas ( formerly Syntex ), which recently streamlined its production and was purchased by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche ; the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region ; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers ; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U. S. and European markets.

Amateur boxing may be found at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sanctioned by amateur boxing associations.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe.

The Commonwealth bogie, manufactured by SKF or Timken, was introduced in the late 1950s for all BR Mark 1 vehicles.

Lionel Curtis, writing in the imperialist journal The Round Table, wrote: " If the British Commonwealth can only be preserved by such means, it would become a negation of the principle for which it has stood ".

Armenia is a member of more than 40 different international organizations including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Trade Organization and La Francophonie.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at which time Belarus gained its independence, Belarus became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ), NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.

Cyprus is a member of the United Nations along with most of its agencies as well as the Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Council of Europe.

The constitution does permit the Governor to act without the consulting the Executive Council and even go against its instructions, but in both cases the Governor must immediately inform the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the United Kingdom, who can overrule the Governor's actions.

Some Commonwealth parliamentary systems combine a body of written constitutional law, unwritten constitutional precedent, Orders in Council, letters patent, etc.

During an interview Lord Phillips was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: "' in an ideal world ' Commonwealth countries — including those in the Caribbean — would stop using the Privy Council and set up their own final courts of appeal instead.

They have been accepted as religious holidays by the following groups: The Union of Orthodox Congregations and the Rabbinical Council of America ; The United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth ; Reform Judaism ; Conservative Judaism ; Reconstructionist Judaism ; the Union for Traditional Judaism.

Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ( which it chaired in 2010 ), North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

On Oct. 15, 1659, the Council of Officers appointed ten persons to ' consider of fit ways and means to carry on the affiars and government of the Commonwealth.

Malta is an active participant in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Council of Europe, OSCE, and various other international organisations.

The Council was formerly a supreme court of appeal for the entire British Empire ( other than for the United Kingdom itself ), and continues to hear appeals from the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, and a number of Commonwealth member countries.

Although the Privy Council is primarily a British institution, officials from some other Commonwealth realms are also appointed to the body.

Russia is a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ), the World Trade Organisation ( WTO ), and is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Until 2005, the Lord Chancellor fused the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, as he was the ex officio Speaker of the House of Lords, a Government Minister who sat in Cabinet and was head of the Lord Chancellor's Department which administered the courts, the justice system and appointed judges, and was the head of the Judiciary in England and Wales and sat as a judge on the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, the highest domestic court in the entire United Kingdom, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the senior tribunal court for parts of the Commonwealth.

The country has remained a member of the Commonwealth, and has retained the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as its highest court of appeal.

He was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on November 5, 1788 he was elected President of the Council, replacing Benjamin Franklin.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, comprising the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.

A number of other countries, including Japan, Canada, Germany, and various multilateral organizations, such as the Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific, the UN Development Programme, the Asian Development Bank, the European Economic Community, and the Commonwealth Development Corporation also provide developmental aid.