MADZIMBAMUTO V LARDNER-BURKE [1969] AC 645

Facts: The British Government had created a convention which made South Rhodesia virtually self governing. The Rhodesian government had enacted a series of Emergency Power Regulations and detained Madzimbamuto under one of those regulations.

Issues : Was C’s detention wrong due to the Emergency Power Regulations being invalid?

Held: The Privy Council held in favour of Mr Madzimbamuto, finding that the Emergency Provisions were void so the decision of South Rhodesia to self legislate was illegal. Although the Convention giving South Rhodesia the power to act as a self-governing State was important, it had no legality so the Emergency Regulations could not be enforceable. The Madzimbamuto case, often cited in constitutional law discussions, remains a pivotal precedent addressing the complex interplay of sovereignty, legality, and constitutional conventions in the context of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence.