patriation

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English - English
The transfer of a governmental power from a former mother country to a newly independent one

The patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom took place in 1982.

Patriation is a legal term particularly used in Canada, to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "bringing home" the constitution. The term is based upon the word repatriation, since critics of the use of the word "repatriation" pointed out that the constitution could not "return" to Canada, as it was not formulated in Canada in the first place. Thus the term "patriation" was coined as a word meaning "to make something part of one's own nation."