The exercise of legislative review over colonial statutes by metropolitan committees and councils was a policy that colonists at times resisted and contested but in large part acquiesced to. As scholars of the early Empires have shown, the empire was not, and could not, be held together by force. Insurmountable logistical hurdles imposed by distance and financial constraints, coupled with a general reluctance on the part of imperial authorities to commit the necessary resources, all but ensured the need for a significant level of colonial participation and consent in imperial policies. These forces have finally shaped the way for the modern perspectives of legal theory and practices in Western world.
