England and Wales - Law

Law

England and Wales are treated as a single unit, for most purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of Scots law was guaranteed under the 1706 Treaty of Union that led to the Acts of Union 1707, and as a consequence English law (and after 1801, Irish law) also continued to be separate. Following the two Acts of Union, Parliament can restrict the effect of its laws to part of the realm, and generally the effect of laws, where restricted, was originally applied to one or more of the former kingdoms. Thus, most laws applicable to England also applied to Wales. However, Parliament now passes laws applicable to Wales and not to England (and vice versa), a practice which was rare before the middle of the twentieth century. Examples include the Welsh Language Acts 1967 and 1993 and also the Government of Wales Act 1998. Measures of the National Assembly for Wales passed since the Government of Wales Act 2006 also apply in Wales but not in England.

Following the Government of Wales Act, effective since May 2007, the National Assembly for Wales can legislate on matters devolved to it. This was the first time in almost 500 years that Wales had its own powers to legislate. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an Act of the Assembly. The first Assembly legislation to be officially proposed was called the NHS Redress (Wales) Measure 2008. Following a referendum on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law making powers, without the need to consult Westminster.