Reid Commission

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The Reid Commission was an independent commission responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya prior to Malayan independence from Britain on 31 August 1957. It met 118 times between June and October 1956, and received 131 memoranda from various individuals and organisations. The commission submitted its working draft in February 1957, which was scrutinised by a Working Committee. The Working Committee consisted of four representatives from the Malay rulers, another four from the Alliance government, the British High Commissioner, the Chief Secretary, and the Attorney General. The Federal Legislative Council passed the constitution on August 15, 1957, and the Constitution took effect on August 27. ^[1] (Formal independence was only achieved on August 31, however.)

The Constitution, with some minor changes, later became the Constitution of Malaysia when Malaya merged with Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia.