The Committee on Commonwealth Membership (CCM) was a

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

convened by the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of ...

in 2006 to examine and report on prospective changes to the membership criteria of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

. It was chaired by P. J. Patterson, formerly

Prime Minister of Jamaica The prime minister of Jamaica () is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as prime minister on 7 September 2020, having been re-elected as a result ...

, and consisted of seven other members. The committee met twice, both times in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: on 6-7 December 2006 and 14 May 2007. It issued its report on 24 October 2007, and presented it to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2007, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Composition

* P. J. Patterson (

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

) * Guido de Marco (

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

) *

Rebecca Kadaga Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (born 24 May 1956) is a Ugandan lawyer and politician who served as the List of speakers of the Parliament of Uganda, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 19 May 2011 until 21 May 2021. She currently serves as the De ...

(

) * Baroness Valerie Amos (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) * Cheryl Carolus (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) * Yashwant Sinha (

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) *

Tuiloma Neroni Slade Tuiloma Neroni Slade (born 8 April 1941) is a Samoan politician, diplomat and lawyer who held the post of secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat from 2008 to 4 December 2014. He was elected to the position for three years o ...

(

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

) * Olivia MacAngus (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) The committee was also attended by the

Commonwealth Secretary-General The Commonwealth secretary-general, formally the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and r ...

Don McKinnon, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Florence Mugasha, and Head of the Political Affairs Division, Matthew Neuhaus.

Recommendations

The Committee's reported to the 2007 CHOGM in the name of all the members, without dissenting opinion. It was drafted by W. David McIntyre, who also served as a consultant to the Committee. The report supported the prevailing and existing requirements as established by the

Edinburgh Declaration The Edinburgh Declaration was a declaration by the Commonwealth Heads of Government, heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations concerning the organisation's Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria, membership criteria. Part of the fi ...

. It dictated that the core criteria for membership should be that countries: * 'As a general rule', have historic constitutional connections with an existing member, or a 'substantial' relationship with the Commonwealth as an institution or a particular group of members. * Accept the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth principles. * Demonstrate commitment to

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

, good governance, and protecting

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

equality of opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equa ...

. * Use English as the language of Commonwealth relations. * Recognise

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

Head of the Commonwealth The Head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...

. The Committee also recommended that new members be 'encouraged' to join the

Commonwealth Foundation The Commonwealth Foundation (CF) is an intergovernmental organisation that was established by the list of Commonwealth heads of government, Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1966, a year after its sister organisation, the Commonwealth Secre ...

and engage in the

Commonwealth Family A Commonwealth organisation is an organisation affiliated with the Commonwealth of Nations. This article is a list of such organisations, which include societies, institutions, associations, organisations, funds and charities that support the Com ...

, but that they would not be required to do so.

Footnotes

{{reflist

External links

Report of the Committee on Commonwealth Membership
Institutions of the Commonwealth of Nations History of the Commonwealth of Nations Organizations established in 2006 Organizations disestablished in 2007