Committee on Commonwealth Membership


The Committee on Commonwealth Membership was a committee convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2006 to examine and report on prospective changes to the membership criteria of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was chaired by P. J. Patterson, formerly Prime Minister of Jamaica, and consisted of seven other members.
The committee met twice, both times in London: 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, Uganda.

Composition

The committee was also attended by the Commonwealth Secretary-General 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. It dictated that the core criteria for membership should be that countries:
The Committee also recommended that new members be 'encouraged' to join the Commonwealth Foundation and engage in the Commonwealth Family, but that they would not be required to do so.

Footnotes