Law
England and Wales are treated as a single unit, for most purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of Scots law was guaranteed under the 1706 Treaty of Union that led to the Acts of Union 1707, and as a consequence English law (and after 1801, Irish law) also continued to be separate. Following the two Acts of Union, Parliament can restrict the effect of its laws to part of the realm, and generally the effect of laws, where restricted, was originally applied to one or more of the former kingdoms. Thus, most laws applicable to England also applied to Wales. However, Parliament now passes laws applicable to Wales and not to England (and vice versa), a practice which was rare before the middle of the twentieth century. Examples include the Welsh Language Acts 1967 and 1993 and also the Government of Wales Act 1998. Measures of the National Assembly for Wales passed since the Government of Wales Act 2006 also apply in Wales but not in England.
Following the Government of Wales Act, effective since May 2007, the National Assembly for Wales can legislate on matters devolved to it. This was the first time in almost 500 years that Wales had its own powers to legislate. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an Act of the Assembly. The first Assembly legislation to be officially proposed was called the NHS Redress (Wales) Measure 2008. Following a referendum on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law making powers, without the need to consult Westminster.
Read more about this topic: England And Wales
Famous quotes containing the word law:
“You can no more bridle passions with logic than you can justify them in the law courts. Passions are facts and not dogmas.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“The law is a sort of hocus-pocus science, that smiles in yer face while it picks yer pocket: and the glorious uncertainty of it is of more use to the professors than the justice of it.”
—Charles Macklin (1690–1797)
““... But here there is nor law nor rule,
Nor have hands held a weary tool;
And here there is nor Change nor Death,
But only kind and merry breath,
For joy is God and God is joy.””
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)