Devolution confusion

Fiction:

It’s not confusing at to have separate legislation for Wales.  (Okay, only those who promote devolution think this.)

Law:

Anyone looking at law in Wales has to consider UK legislation.  Anyone looking at UK/English legislation has to look at Wales legislation if they if they may be travelling to or dealing with someone in Wales.  It becomes twice the work and always begs the question why is Wales different?  That is a question of politics, seldom answered during response to Covid.

A simple example of unnecessary confusion that can arise, demanding time and vigilance to avoid misquoting the law, is the decision to reverse the order of schedules in the principle regulations imposing restrictions on the population.  What the England regulations put schedules 1 and 2, the Wales regulations reverse and put respectively in schedules 2 and 1.  Why?

 

Warning: Law and circumstances can change very quickly.  Please note the date of publication of any blog post and check for any updates on the issues addressed. In any event, we do not condone or encourage breaching the law and neither the above nor any information posted on this website constitutes legal advice. It must not be relied upon as such and specialist legal advice should be taken in relation to specific circumstances. Please read our disclaimer.

Spread the love