Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:45 pm on 25 June 2019.
Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Quoting the words of the explanatory memorandum of this Bill:
'The purpose of the Legislation (Wales) Bill is to make Welsh law more accessible, clear and straightforward to use.'
And, of course, the accessibility of our legislation is the inspiration underpinning the amendment tabled in my name this afternoon.
We discussed many similar amendments at Stage 2, and they were accepted in spirit by the Counsel General at that point, and, since Stage 2, officials—the talented officials and lawyers of this Government—have assisted me in amending my previous amendments so that they have become the amendments tabled today. There have been some fundamental changes to what we introduced at Stage 2.
So, in this amendment, we look at the accessibility of Welsh law to the extent that it's readily available to members of the public in both Welsh and English, that Welsh law is published in an up-to-date form in both languages, showing whether enactments are in force and incorporating any amendments made to them, that Welsh law is clearly and logically organised both within and between enactments, and that Welsh law is easy to understand and certain in its effect.
I’m very thankful to the Counsel General and his officials for all of their support in making this possible. Because we stand in this Senedd, we’re able to legislate on behalf of the people of Wales, we can also levy taxes. This legislation is to be warmly welcomed and we congratulate the Counsel General on his vision and his initiative. Of course, to the person on the street and to lawyers in courts of law alike, legislation can be very complex, with a combination of UK legislation, England-and-Wales law, and Wales-only law, in both Welsh and English, all enacted here in Wales.
And, given the scale of the legislation—in its various different forms; primary legislation, secondary legislation, statutory instruments and so on and so forth— that is available, without forgetting, of course, that all of this different legislation can also be amended and remade over the years in different forms and in different places, then the legislative landscape can be very difficult to navigate, even for the most talented, never mind the cuts to the financial support to enable individuals to access the law in the very first place, with more and more individuals choosing to defend themselves, because of the absence of that financial support. Then you could be talking about a perfect storm of an increase in the complexity of law linked with less ability to access the law by the individual citizen. That's the importance of this legislation before us today.
The explanatory memorandum notes that the National Assembly has passed 59 Measures or Acts since 2007, and that Welsh Ministers have made around 6,000 statutory instruments since 1999. The intention of codification, to arrange legislation subject by subject in one place, is to be warmly welcomed, and also the opportunity to innovate in making legislation in Welsh that has the same status as legislation made in English. Creating bilingual legislation from the outset makes better legislation, as witnesses told us as we scrutinised this Bill at the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee. There are challenges, yes, but there is also some pleasure to be gained in interpreting legal issues in both languages with the same status, and we welcome this innovative intention in this Bill.
To conclude, we cannot forget our history. Perhaps I may have mentioned in the past the innovative work of Hywel Dda in creating legislation for Wales, including rights for women back in the year 909 AD. Now, that was an important year. With agreement on passing the Legislation (Wales) Bill, 2019 can also be an important year.