Sir, in regard to what is a Federal Constitution, there are various interpretations. It varies widely. For instance, the Canadian Constitution which is one of the four prominent Federal Constitutions in the world is characterised by some as not being wholly federal. On the other hand it does happen that in the actual working of the Constitution, it is more federal than the Australian Constitution which, from the strictly constitutional point of view, is undoubtedly fully federal. It is said often times that a Constitution becomes Federal because of the fact that the component units are first formed and then the Centre is created. That is the opinion expressed by Lord Hal Dane in 1913 as an obiter in a matter that was referred to him arising out of an Australian litigation wherein he mentioned that the Canadian Constitution was not Federal in so far as, while the British North American Act was passed by Parliament, the Centre and the Provinces were created at the same time.
