Legislation (Wales) Act 2019
| Jurisdiction | Wales |
| Citation | 2019 anaw 4 |
Legislation (Wales) Act 2019
2019 anaw 4
An Act of the National Assembly for Wales to promote the accessibility of Welsh law; to provide for the interpretation and operation of Welsh legislation; and for connected purposes.
[10 September 2019]
Having been passed by the National Assembly for Wales and having received the assent of Her Majesty, it is enacted as follows:
PART 1
ACCESSIBILITY OF WELSH LAW
1 Duty to keep accessibility of Welsh law under review
(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)
(a) readily available to members of the public in Welsh and English;
(b)
(b) published in an up-to-date form in both languages (showing whether enactments are in force and incorporating any amendments made to them);
(c)
(c) clearly and logically organised (both within and between enactments);
(d)
(d) easy to understand and certain in its effect.
(3) In this Part, “Welsh law” means—
(a)
(a) Assembly Acts and Assembly Measures;
(b)
(b) subordinate legislation made under Assembly Acts and Assembly Measures;
(c)
(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)
(d) any other enactment or rule of law, so far as it applies in relation to Wales and relates to subject matter which could be provided for in an Assembly Act.
2 Programme to improve accessibility of Welsh law
(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 the National Assembly for Wales that begins after this section comes into force.
(3) The programme must include proposed activities that are intended to—
(a)
(a) contribute to an ongoing process of consolidating and codifying Welsh law;
(b)
(b) maintain the form of Welsh law (once codified);
(c)
(c) promote awareness and understanding of Welsh law;
(d)
(d) facilitate use of the Welsh language.
(4) The programme may also include proposed activities—
(a)
(a) that may be undertaken in collaboration with the Law Commission (in accordance with the Law Commissions Act 1965 (c. 22)), or
(b)
(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 the National Assembly 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 the National Assembly.
(7) The Counsel General must report annually to the National Assembly on progress made under the programme.
(8) In subsection (3), codifying Welsh law includes—
(a)
(a) adopting a structure for Welsh law that improves its accessibility;
(b)
(b) organising and publishing consolidated Welsh law according to that structure.
PART 2
INTERPRETATION AND OPERATION OF WELSH LEGISLATION
Application and effect of Part
3 Legislation to which this Part applies
(1) This Part applies to—
(a)
(a) this Act;
(b)
(b) Assembly Acts that receive Royal Assent on or after the day on which this Part comes fully into force;
(c)
(c) Welsh subordinate instruments that are made on or after that day.
(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)
(a) subordinate legislation that is made under an Assembly Act or an Assembly Measure, whether by the Welsh Ministers or by any other person;
(b)
(b) subordinate legislation that—
(i) is made under an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or retained direct EU 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 the rest of this Part to an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument are (unless otherwise provided) references to an Assembly Act or Welsh subordinate instrument to which this Part applies by virtue of subsection (1).
4 Effect of provisions in this Part
(1) Where this Part applies to an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument, the provisions in this Part have effect in relation to the Act or instrument except so far as—
(a)
(a) express provision is made to the contrary, or
(b)
(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)
(a) section 10 (references to time of day);
(b)
(b) section 28 (application of Welsh legislation to the Crown);
(c)
(c) section 33 (repeals and revocations do not revive law previously repealed, revoked or abolished).
Bilingual Welsh legislation
5 Equal status of Welsh and English language texts
(1) This section applies where an Assembly Act 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
6 Definitions of words and expressions
(1) Words and expressions listed in the Table in Schedule 1 are to be interpreted according to that Table where they appear in an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument.
(2) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend Schedule 1 to—
(a)
(a) insert new definitions of words or expressions;
(b)
(b) remove definitions of words or expressions;
(c)
(c) amend 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).
7 Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa
In an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument—
(a) words in the singular include the plural;
(b) words in the plural include the singular.
8 Words denoting a gender are not limited to that gender
In an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument, words denoting persons of a particular gender are not to be read as limited to persons of that gender.
9 Variations of a word or expression due to grammar etc.
Where a word or expression in an Assembly Act 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.
10 References to time of day
A reference to the time of day in an Assembly Act 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).
11 References to the Sovereign
A reference to the Sovereign in an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument is to be read as a reference to the Sovereign for the time being.
12 Measurement of distance
A reference to a distance in an Assembly Act 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 Service of documents by post or electronically
(1) Where an Assembly Act 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 Assembly Act 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) 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)
(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 Assembly Act or Welsh subordinate instrument uses the word “serve” or any other expression (such as “give” or “send”) to refer to the service of the document.
14 Day on which service is deemed to be effected
Where a document is served by post or electronically under an Assembly Act 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.
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