The Welsh Language Act 1967, is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

which gave some rights to use the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

in legal proceedings in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(including Monmouthshire) and gave the relevant Minister the right to authorise the production of a Welsh version of any documents required or allowed by the Act.

Act

The Welsh Language Act 1967 is a short Act, consisting of a Preamble and five sections. The Preamble states that "it is proper that the Welsh language should be freely used by those who so desire in the hearing of legal proceedings in Wales". The first section gives the right to use Welsh orally in court proceedings in Wales provided that the person who wishes to do so has notified the court in advance. It also repeals section 1 of the Welsh Courts Act 1942, which had allowed the use of Welsh in courts in Wales if the person speaking were under a disadvantage in having to speak English. The second and third sections allowed but did not require Ministers to provide Welsh versions of forms or wordings. The fourth section of the Act repealed the provision in Part 3 of the

Wales and Berwick Act 1746 The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 (20 Geo. II, c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that created a statutory definition of England as including England, Wales and Berwick-upon-Tweed. This definition applied to all Acts passed befor ...

that the term "England" should include Wales.

History

The Act was based on the Hughes Parry report into the status of Welsh, published in 1965, which advocated equal validity for Welsh in speech and in written documents, both in the courts and in public administration in Wales. However, the Act did not include all of the report's recommendations. The

Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 ( cy, Y Deddfau Cyfreithiau yng Nghymru 1535 a 1542) were Acts of the Parliament of England, and were the parliamentary measures by which Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England. Moreover, the legal sys ...

had made English the only language of the

law court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accord ...

s and other aspects of public administration in Wales, even though most of the population spoke Welsh and few spoke English. The 1967 Act was the first alteration to this situation, but the

Welsh Language Act 1993 The Welsh Language Act 1993, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English language in Wales. The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 had made English the only language of publi ...

was the first to put Welsh on an equal basis with English in public life.

References

{{Reflist 1967 in law

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Wales United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1967 History of Monmouthshire Language policy in the United Kingdom