The Law Of Wales Or The Law Of England And Wales?

This article considers the treatment of Wales in legislation produced by the Westminster Parliament. It examines the current approach to legislation intended only to take effect in relation to Wales. The particular issue here is that of reconciling Acts of Parliament, limited in their territorial extent to Wales, with the conventional understanding, or ‘practical logic’, 1 of a unified legal system of England and Wales. In a manner typical of the unwritten constitution, there is little in the way of established authority. The ‘rules’ that govern the way in which the separate law of Wales is signified are those that parliamentary and governmental legal advisers have promulgated. This article considers the effect which such ‘rules’ may have had in relation to the recognition of a law of Wales and their significance in the context of the current debate about the presentation and accessibility of Welsh legislation under the circumstances...