Legislation (Wales) Act 2019
The Legislation (Wales) Act 2019:
- makes provisions to promote the accessibility of Welsh law by imposing duties on the Counsel General and the Welsh Ministers. This includes the duty to prepare a programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law.
- contains default provisions about the interpretation and operation of Welsh legislation (Acts of Senedd Cymru and subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers and other devolved Welsh authorities)
- gives the Welsh Ministers the power to amend legislation to replace descriptions of dates with references to actual dates, once known
- contains provisions which make it easier for the Welsh Ministers to combine subordinate legislation made under different powers in a single statutory instrument.
The Explanatory Notes to the Act provide detailed commentary on the various provisions.
Coming into force:
Certain provisions of the Act came into force on 11 September 2019, which was the day after it received Royal Assent, in accordance with section 44(1). The remainder of Part 2 of the Act comes into force on a day appointed by an order made by the Welsh Ministers, in accordance with section 44(2). The following commencement order has been made:
The Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2019
Subordinate legislation made under the Act:
| Title | Citation number | Made date | Coming into force date | Supporting documents |
| The Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Regulations 2020 | 2020 No. 1356 (W. 300) | 26 November 2020 | 27 November 2020 | Explanatory Memorandum |
Consideration of the legislation by the Senedd:
The Bill was introduced by Jeremy Miles MS, the Counsel General at the time on 3 December 2018 and passed by Senedd Cymru (the then National Assembly for Wales) on 16 July 2019.
More information about the Bill is available on the Senedd’s website, including a record of the passage of the Bill through the Senedd and the Explanatory Memorandum that was prepared by the Welsh Government (as revised after Stage 2).
The Act received Royal Assent on 10 September 2019.
Related articles and information:
The Government has prepared a programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law, which can be found on the Welsh Government’s website: The future of Welsh law: A programme for 2021 to 2026 [HTML] | GOV.WALES