Lesson plan
Edinburgh Declaration
The Edinburgh Declaration was a declaration by the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations concerning the organisation's membership criteria. Part of the final communiqué issued at the end of the fifteenth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Declaration was an endorsement of the report of the Inter-Governmental Group on Criteria for Commonwealth Membership (IGCCM). It was issued on 27 October 1997, in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom. The report of the IGCCM consolidated all the membership criteria of the organisation, developed over two-thirds of a century, since the Statute of Westminster 1931, into a single document, beginning the process of codification. Primarily, it was decided that the admission of Mozambique, in 1995, was a unique occurrence, in recognition of Mozambique's support for the Commonwealth's policies towards South Africa and Rhodesia during the Apartheid era; any future members would have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member. In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements, which remain the same today, are that members must: * accept and comply with the Harare principles. * be fully sovereign states. * recognise the King or Queen as the Head of the Commonwealth. * accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication.…
Article summary
The Edinburgh Declaration was a declaration by the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations concerning the organisation's membership criteria. Part of the final communiqué issued at the end of the fifteenth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Declaration was an endorsement of the report of the Inter-Governmental Group on Criteria for Commonwealth Membership (IGCCM). It was issued on 27 October 1997, in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom. The report of the IGCCM consolidated all the membership criteria of the organisation, developed over two-thirds of a century, since the Statute of Westminster 1931, into a single document, beginning the process of codification. Primarily, it was decided that the admission of Mozambique, in 1995, was a unique occurrence, in recognition of Mozambique's support for the Commonwealth's policies towards South Africa and Rhodesia during the Apartheid era; any future members would have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member. In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements, which remain the same today, are that members must: * accept and comply with the Harare principles. * be fully sovereign states. * recognise the King or Queen as the Head of the Commonwealth. * accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication.…
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.