Welsh Law

Welsh law was the system of law practised in Wales before the 16th century. According to tradition it was first codified by Hywel Dda ("Hywel the Good") during the period between 942 and 950 when he was king of most of Wales; as such it is usually called Cyfraith Hywel, the Law of Hywel, in Welsh. The tradition states that Hywel's men adapted existing laws and some elements are probably of much greater antiquity, with points of similarity to the Brehon law of Ireland (a form of Celtic law). The earliest manuscripts which have been preserved date from the early or mid-13th century. The law was continually revised and updated, sometimes by rulers but usually by jurists, so that the provisions of the law in a mid-13th-century manuscript should not be considered as evidence of what the law was in the mid-10th century. The Welsh legal system was absorbed into the English system by the Laws in Wales Acts, passed between 1535 and 1542 by King Henry VIII of England.