Legalize / United Kingdom / Wales / Act of Senedd Cymru

Legislation (Wales) Act 2019

Type Act of Senedd Cymru

Publication 2019-09-10

State In force

Jurisdiction Wales

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

PART 1 — ACCESSIBILITY OF WELSH LAW

Duty to keep accessibility of Welsh law under review

1

(1) The Counsel General must keep the accessibility of Welsh law under review.

(2) In this Part, the “accessibility” of Welsh law means the extent to which it is—

(a) readily available to members of the public in Welsh and English;

(b) published in an up-to-date form in both languages (showing whether enactments are in force and incorporating any amendments made to them);

(d) easy to understand and certain in its effect.

(3) In this Part, “Welsh law” means—

(a) Acts of Senedd Cymru and Assembly Measures;

(b) subordinate legislation made under Acts of Senedd Cymru and Assembly Measures;

(c) any other subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales established by the Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38), so far as it applies in relation to Wales;

(d) any other enactment or rule of law, so far as it ... could be provided for in an Act of Senedd Cymru.

Programme to improve accessibility of Welsh law

2

(1) The Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General must prepare a programme setting out what they intend to do to improve the accessibility of Welsh law.

(2) A programme must be prepared for each term of Senedd Cymru that begins after this section comes into force.

(3) The programme must include proposed activities that are intended to—

(a) contribute to an ongoing process of consolidating and codifying Welsh law;

(b) maintain the form of Welsh law (once codified);

(d) facilitate use of the Welsh language.

(4) The programme may also include proposed activities—

(a) that may be undertaken in collaboration with the Law Commission (in accordance with the Law Commissions Act 1965 (c. 22)), or

(b) of any other kind the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General consider appropriate.

(5) The Counsel General must lay a copy of the programme before Senedd Cymru within 6 months of the appointment of a First Minister after a general election held under Part 1 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

(6) The Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General may at any time revise the programme, and if they do so the Counsel General must lay a copy of the revised programme before Senedd Cymru.

(7) The Counsel General must report annually to Senedd Cymru on progress made under the programme.

(8) In subsection (3), codifying Welsh law includes—

(a) adopting a structure for Welsh law that improves its accessibility;

(b) organising and publishing consolidated Welsh law according to that structure.

PART 2 — INTERPRETATION AND OPERATION OF WELSH LEGISLATION

Application and effect of Part

Legislation to which this Part applies

3

(1) This Part applies to—

(a) this Act;

(b) Acts of Senedd Cymru that receive Royal Assent on or after 1 January 2020;

(2) “Welsh subordinate instrument” means an instrument (whether or not that instrument is a statutory instrument) containing only one or both of the following—

(a) subordinate legislation that is made under an Act of Senedd Cymru or an Assembly Measure, whether by the Welsh Ministers or by any other person;

(b) subordinate legislation that—

(i) is made under an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or assimilated direct legislation,

(ii) is made only by the Welsh Ministers or any other devolved Welsh authority (within the meaning given by section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32)), and

(iii) applies only in relation to Wales.

(3) References in this Part to an Act of Senedd Cymru are (unless otherwise provided) references to an Act of Senedd Cymru to which this Part applies by virtue of subsection (1).

(3A) References in this Part to a Welsh subordinate instrument are (unless otherwise provided) references to the subordinate legislation contained in a Welsh subordinate instrument to which this Part applies by virtue of subsection (1).

(4) In relation to subordinate legislation that relates to fishing, fisheries or fish health and is made after section 45 of the Fisheries Act 2020 (c. 22) comes into force, the reference in subsection (2)(b)(iii) to Wales includes the area of the Welsh zone beyond the seaward limits of the territorial sea.

Effect of provisions in this Part

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(1) Where this Part applies to an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument, the provisions in this Part have effect in relation to the Act or instrument except so far as—

(a) express provision is made to the contrary, or

(b) the context requires otherwise.

(2) The exception in subsection (1) does not apply to section 5 (equal status of texts of bilingual legislation).

(3) Paragraph (b) of that exception does not apply to—

(a) section 10 (references to time of day);

(b) section 28 (application of Welsh legislation to the Crown);

Bilingual Welsh legislation

Equal status of Welsh and English language texts

5

(1) This section applies where an Act of Senedd Cymru is enacted, or a Welsh subordinate instrument is made, in Welsh and English.

(2) The Welsh language text and the English language text have equal status for all purposes.

Meaning of words and expressions used in Welsh legislation

Definitions of words and expressions

6

(1) Words and expressions listed in the Table in Schedule 1 are to be interpreted according to that Table where they appear in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument.

(2) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend Schedule 1 to—

(a) insert new definitions of words or expressions;

(b) remove definitions of words or expressions;

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) may make supplementary, incidental, consequential, transitory, transitional or saving provision, which may include provision which amends, repeals, revokes or otherwise modifies any enactment (whenever enacted or made).

Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa

7

In an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument—

(a) words in the singular include the plural;

(b) words in the plural include the singular.

Words denoting a gender are not limited to that gender

8

In an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument, words denoting persons of a particular gender are not to be read as limited to persons of that gender.

Variations of a word or expression due to grammar etc.

9

Where a word or expression in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument is given a meaning by an enactment, other parts of speech and grammatical forms or modifications of the word or expression are to be interpreted in accordance with that meaning.

References to time of day

10

A reference to the time of day in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument is a reference to Greenwich mean time; but this is subject to section 3 of the Summer Time Act 1972 (c. 6) (points of time during the period of summer time).

References to the Sovereign

11

A reference to the Sovereign in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument is to be read as a reference to the Sovereign for the time being.

Measurement of distance

12

A reference to a distance in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument is a reference to that distance measured in a straight line on a horizontal plane.

Service of documents by post or electronically

13

(1) Where an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument authorises or requires a person (“A”) to serve a document by post on another person (“B”), A serves the document if A properly addresses, pre-pays and posts a letter containing the document to B.

(2) Where an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument authorises or requires a person (“A”) to serve a document electronically on another person (“B”), A serves the document if—

(a) A properly addresses and sends to B an electronic communication consisting of or containing the document, or to which the document is attached, and

(b) the document is sent in an electronic form which is capable of being accessed and retained by B.

(3) This section applies whether the ... Act or ... instrument uses the word “serve” or any other expression (such as “give” or “send”) to refer to the service of the document.

Day on which service is deemed to be effected

14

Where a document is served by post or electronically under an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument, service is deemed to be effected, unless the contrary is proved—

(a) in the case of a document served by post, on the day on which the letter containing the document would arrive in the ordinary course of post;

(b) in the case of a document served electronically, on the day on which the electronic communication is sent.

Powers and duties

Continuity of powers and duties

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(1) A power conferred by an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument may be exercised on more than one occasion.

(2) A duty imposed by an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument is continuous and must be performed as occasion requires.

(3) Where a power is conferred or a duty is imposed by an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument on the holder of an office, it is to be exercised by the holder for the time being of the office.

Exercise of a power or duty that is not in force

16

(1) This section applies where a power or duty is conferred or imposed—

(a) by a provision in an Act of Senedd Cymru which does not come into force on the day on which the Act receives Royal Assent or the following day, or

(b) by a provision in a Welsh subordinate instrument which does not come into force immediately on the instrument being made.

(2) The power or duty may be exercised (and any instrument made under the power or duty may come into force) during the period—

(a) beginning when the ... Act receives Royal Assent or the ... instrument is made, and

(b) ending when the provision conferring the power or imposing the duty comes into force.

(3) But during that period the power or duty may be exercised only so far as is necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving full effect to—

(a) the ... Act or ... instrument conferring or imposing the power or duty, or

(b) a provision in that Act or instrument,

at or after the time when the Act, instrument or provision comes into force.

(3A) Subsection (3) does not apply to the exercise of a power or duty to make subordinate legislation unless the subordinate legislation is to come into force before the provision conferring the power or imposing the duty.

(4) Where a provision in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument which is not in force—

(a) is incidental or supplementary to a power or duty exercised in accordance with this section, and

(b) comes into force other than by order or regulations,

that provision is to be treated as being in force so far as is necessary for the exercise of the power or duty in accordance with this section.

(5) The exercise of a power or duty in accordance with this section is subject to any conditions or limitations imposed by the ... Act or ... instrument conferring or imposing the power or duty (whether or not the provision imposing the condition or limitation is in force).

(6) In subsection (1), the references to a provision in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument include a provision that amends another enactment.

(7) Where a provision in an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument confers or imposes a power or duty by amending another enactment, the references to an Act or instrument in subsections (3)(a) and (b), (4) and (5) include the other enactment as amended.

Inclusion of sunset provisions and review provisions in subordinate legislation

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(1) A power or duty to make subordinate legislation conferred or imposed by an Act of Senedd Cymru may be exercised so that the subordinate legislation contains a review provision or a sunset provision (or both).

(2) In this section—

(a) “review provision” means a provision requiring the person who made the subordinate legislation to review the effectiveness of that legislation, or of any Welsh subordinate instrument it amends, within a specified period or at the end of a specified period;

(b) “sunset provision” means a provision for the subordinate legislation, or any Welsh subordinate instrument it amends, to cease to have effect at the end of a specified day or specified period;

(3) A review provision may, among other things, require a review of whether the objectives of the subordinate legislation to which it applies remain appropriate and, if so, whether they could be achieved in another way.

(4) The subordinate legislation containing the review provision or sunset provision may provide that the provision applies generally or only in relation to specified provisions of subordinate legislation or specified cases or circumstances.

(5) The power to make the review provision or sunset provision may be exercised to make supplementary, incidental, consequential, transitory, transitional or saving provision in connection with the review provision or sunset provision.

Revoking, amending and re-enacting subordinate legislation

18

(1) A power to make subordinate legislation conferred by an Act of Senedd Cymru may be exercised to amend, revoke or re-enact any subordinate legislation made under the power.

(2) A duty to make subordinate legislation imposed by an Act of Senedd Cymru includes a power (exercisable in the same way and subject to the same conditions or limitations as the duty) which may be exercised to amend, revoke and replace, or re-enact any subordinate legislation made under the duty (or under the power provided by this subsection).

Amendment of subordinate legislation by an Assembly Act

19

The amendment or revocation of subordinate legislation by an Act of Senedd Cymru does not limit or otherwise affect the power or duty under which the subordinate legislation was made.

Varying and withdrawing directions

20

(1) A power to give directions conferred by an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument may be exercised to vary or withdraw any directions given under the power.

(2) A duty to give directions imposed by an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument includes a power (exercisable in the same way and subject to the same conditions or limitations as the duty) to vary, or withdraw and replace, any directions given under the duty.

References in Welsh legislation to legislation and other documents

References to portions of enactments, instruments and documents

21

(1) Where an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument—

(a) describes or refers to a portion of any enactment, instrument or document, and

(b) does so by referring to words, sections or other parts from or to which (or from and to which) the portion extends,

the portion includes the words, sections or other parts referred to.

(2) In subsection (1), “enactment” includes an enactment which is, or is contained in, any of the following—

(a) an Act of the Scottish Parliament;

(b) Northern Ireland legislation (within the meaning given by section 24(5) of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30));

(ba) a Measure of the Church Assembly or of the General Synod of the Church of England;

Edition of Assembly Act or Assembly Measure referred to

22

(1) This section applies where an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument refers to an Act of Senedd Cymru (including an Act of Senedd Cymru to which this Part does not apply) or an Assembly Measure.

(2) The reference is a reference to the certified copy of the Act, or to the Measure as approved, which is published—

(a) by the Queen's Printer, or

(b) under the superintendence or authority of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Edition of Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom referred to

23

(1) This section applies where an Act of Senedd Cymru or a Welsh subordinate instrument refers to an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (whether by its short title or by year, statute, session or chapter).

(2) The reference is a reference to the Act as enacted which is published—

(a) by the Queen's Printer, or

(b) under the superintendence or authority of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

(3) But—

(a) where the reference is to an Act included in a revised edition of the statutes printed by authority, the reference is a reference to that edition;

(b) where paragraph (a) does not apply and the reference is to an Act included in the edition prepared under the direction of the Record Commission, the reference is a reference to that edition.

References to direct EU legislation retained in domestic law after EU exit

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(1) This section applies where—

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