When I introduced The Future of Welsh Law program to the Senedd last year, I emphasized that one main goal was to make Welsh laws easily accessible in both Welsh and English on the legislation.gov.uk website.
Until recently, technical issues and other challenges prevented this from happening. However, I’m happy to share that we’ve overcome these obstacles, thanks to the hard work of The National Archives. They’ve updated their editing system, allowing the Welsh Government to update the wording of our laws in both languages directly.
Since 1999, the Senedd has passed 74 Acts and Measures and made almost 6,000 Statutory Instruments. Over time, these pieces of legislation have been updated and changed, both by actions within Wales and the UK Parliament.
Institute of Welsh Affairs (Credits: Institute of Welsh Affairs)
Even though legislation.gov.uk tries to keep up with these changes, about 46,000 updates and notes still need to be added to ensure our laws are updated on the website.
We’re starting to work on clearing this backlog, first focusing on the Acts and Measures made by the Senedd, and then we’ll look at the Welsh Statutory Instruments. I’ll keep everyone informed about how we’re doing.
This effort is a big step forward in ensuring that Welsh laws are available and fully updated in both languages shortly after any amendments are made.
