The Solomon Islands Act 1978 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

. The Act annexed the

British Solomon Islands protectorate The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Gibson, Royal Navy, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subs ...

by providing that as from 7 July 1978 the territories comprised within the

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its inter ...

would form part of Her Majesty’s dominions under the name of ''

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

''.Section 1 of the Solomon Islands Act 1978 The Act also provided that from the same date, Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom would have no responsibility for the government of Solomon Islands. Independence within the British Commonwealth could not be attained by a dependent territory such as the Solomon Islands protectorate without legislation passed at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bucki ...

. The grant of independence to Solomon Islands was achieved by two separate legislative operations, namely, the passing of the Act and the making of the Solomon Islands Independence Order 1978. Together those statutes comprised Solomon Islands’ constitution at independence in 1978. At independence the country became the thirty-seventh member of the

British Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

.
Website of the Permanent Mission of Solomon Islands to the United Nations accessed on 7 June 2020

References

{{Reflist History of the Solomon Islands British Empire