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A Welsh statutory instrument (WSI; ) is
subordinate legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative dem ...
made by the
Welsh Ministers The Welsh Government ( ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Wales. The government consists of cabinet secretaries and ministers. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the Senedd (Welsh Pa ...
, as well as subordinate legislation made by public bodies using powers provided to be exercisable by Welsh statutory instrument. WSIs are the main form of subordinate legislation in Wales, being used by default to exercise powers delegated to the Welsh Ministers, the Counsel General, and the
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. The
Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 The Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (anaw 4) () is an Act of the National Assembly for Wales, which is designed to provide guidance on how to draft and interpret primary and secondary legislation of the Assembly. Background In July 2013, the Law ...
defines what a Welsh statutory instrument is. Until this Act, WSIs were governed by the
Statutory Instruments Act 1946 The Statutory Instruments Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 36) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which governs the making of statutory instruments. Until 2011 the act also governed Scottish statutory instruments made under acts of th ...
, which continues to govern UK statutory instruments. Before Welsh devolution, subordinate legislation applying only to Wales was published as a subseries of the larger UK statutory instrument (SI) series. This subseries is now used for SIs which deal with
reserved matter In the United Kingdom, devolved matters are the areas of public policy where the Parliament of the United Kingdom has devolved its legislative power to the national legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while reserved matters ...
s in relation to Wales.


Purpose

An WSI is made, with some exceptions, by a body exercising executive governmental functions – that is, a body responsible for putting the law into effect ("executing" the law) rather than a body responsible for defining the law (the
legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
) or a body responsible for interpreting the law (the
judicature The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
). As a result, an WSI will provide specific details on how an Act should be put into effect and may amend existing Acts or WSIs to reflect that the law has changed. In other cases, an WSI may
repeal A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...
parts of the law which had before been impliedly repealed. For example, section 15 of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act 2023 allows the Welsh Ministers to make regulations setting out implementation of the single-use plastic ban, and The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Civil Sanctions) (Wales) Regulations 2023 sets out in regulation 1 how a fixed monetary penalties will be set. In other cases, an WSI may be used to bring into force parts of the law through so-called "commencement orders." In these cases, sections of Acts may have no
legal force The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". According to ''En ...
until brought into force, which may allow time for accommodating preparations to be made. One example of a commencement order is ''The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2022'', which brought certain provisions of the
Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic che ...
into force. Another example, although not involving WSIs, is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which applies to Wales and makes provisions relating to ensuring safety in the workplace. This Act covers a wide remit, and so UK SIs have been issued under the same sections to cover different industries. Specifically, some sections of this Act which allow making SIs were used to make both the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 even though those regulations are not related.


Procedure


Enabling

A WSI may only be made where an Act or Measure of the Senedd or Act of the UK Parliament gives that power. Such an Act is known variously as an ''enabling'' or ''parent Act'', and sets out the scope of the power to make WSIs, and the associated procedure for exercising that power. An WSI may only make provision within the scope of its enabling power, and any provision outside that scope is invalid.


Making

An WSI is "made" when it is signed by a person or body who has the power to make that WSI – typically the Welsh Ministers. This terminology appears to be inherited from the UK Parliament, as the Senedd has not provided official guidance specifically defining the term.


Laying

The "laying" of an WSI is the putting of that WSI before the Senedd for the Senedd's consideration. The phrase comes from ''
laying before the house In parliamentary procedure, especially the Westminster system, a document is laid before the house or laid on the Table of the House when it is formally recognised as having been made available for members of a deliberative assembly to read. Docum ...
'', which originally referred to the placing of a (physical) document on the table in the assembly chamber. All WSIs are required to be laid before Senedd in the manner specified by the Senedd's standing orders, although not laying an WSI before Senedd does not invalidate it. The date an WSI is laid is also generally the date from which parliamentary scrutiny may begin.


Scrutiny

Once a WSI is laid before the Senedd, it may be scrutinised. Scrutiny is generally performed by the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee (LJSC), which considers whether the Welsh Ministers are competent in making the WSI and whether the WSI of sufficient quality. That is, the committee considers whether the Ministers have the power to make that WSI under the enabling Act, whether the Senedd has the power to make law in that area under the Government of Wales Act or Wales Acts, and whether the provisions of the WSI are clear, consistent, and free of
typographical error A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesettin ...
s. The LJSC and other committees report back to the Senedd, which applies a varying level of scrutiny depending on the exact procedure for that WSI.


Negative procedure

A ''negative WSI'' is an WSI subject to ''negative procedure''. Such WSIs must be laid before the Senedd at least 28 days before they come into force, and may be annulled by Senedd resolution within 40 days of their being laid. If an WSI is annulled after it comes into force, it ceases to have force from the date of annulment.


Affirmative procedure

An ''affirmative WSI'' is subject to ''affirmative procedure''. These WSIs must be approved by resolution of the Senedd before they can come into force.


Special parliamentary procedure

Some WSIs are subject to ''special parliamentary procedure''. These are so-called ''special procedure orders'' (SPOs), and differ from WSIs subject to other types of procedure in that notice of SPOs must be posted in the ''London Gazette'' (or a local newspaper, if the SPO relates to a particular area) and in that members of the public may object to an SPO. If an SPO is objected to, it must be laid before the Senedd with its objections and then confirmed by an Act of Senedd Cymru. If no objections are made, the Senedd may annul the order within 40 days of its being laid. If no objections are made and the Parliament does not annul the SPO, the SPO comes into force at the end of the 40-day period or at a later date if the SPO so specifies.


Other procedures

Another example of these other procedures are ''laid-only procedure'', where an WSI is laid before the Senedd but cannot be rejected.


Commencement

An WSI will not typically have legal force immediately. Rather, it may require parliamentary approval, and may specify a "commencement day" on which it comes into force. For example, an order regulating student finance was made on 9 July 2024, laid before the Senedd on 19 July 2024, and has a commencement day of 9 July 2024.


Types


Rules, regulations, and orders

While WSIs are separate from UK SIs, they generally appear to follow the same naming convention for rules, regulations, and orders. The Welsh Government and the Senedd have not, however, as of October 2016, published official guidance defining the terms, and so it cannot be known with certainty whether the definitions used for WSIs and SIs are identical. These definitions were established by the so-called "Donoughmore Committee" of 1932, and recommended in official guidance published by
Her Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...
. The committee recommended that: * ''Rules'' should set out procedure – how specific public bodies conduct themselves. * ''Regulations'' should set out
substantive law Substantive law is the set of laws that governs how members of a society are to behave.Substantive Law vs. Procedural Law: Definitions and Differences, Study.com/ref> It is contrasted with procedural law, which is the set of procedures for making, ...
– how members of the public, companies, and so on conduct themselves. * ''Orders'' should exercise executive power, or the power to take judicial decisions.


Orders in Council

An Order in Council is legislation made by the
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...
to exercise executive power, although in reality Orders are made by the Privy Council and approved by the sovereign. An Order in Council is
primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...
when made under the
royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
, and subordinate legislation if made under an Act of Senedd Cymru. When an Order in Council is used to exercise a power granted by an Act, such Orders are made as WSIs. Orders in Council are often used for making law which modifies how the branches of government work. Orders in Council have been used to adjust how the Senedd works – for example, to set who is disqualified from being a
Member of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituency, Senedd constituencies, a ...
– and, in the UK SI series, to devolve powers to the Senedd.


Orders of Council

An Order of Council is a form of
legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...
made by the Lords of the Privy Council (in practice,
ministers of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign o ...
). Orders of Council differ from
Orders in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...
in that, while orders in Council are orders made by the
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
meeting with the Privy Council, Orders of Council are made by the Privy Council in its own right and without requiring the King's approval. The preamble of all Orders of Council states that the order was made at a meeting of the council held in
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...
; however, in practice they are all approved through correspondence, and no meeting is actually held. Orders of Council that are Welsh statutory instruments generally relate to higher education, for example under the powers in the
Education Reform Act 1988 The Education Reform Act 1988 (c. 40) is legislation that introduced multiple changes to the education system in England and Wales, including the introduction of Key Stages and the National Curriculum. It replaced many rules and structures that h ...
to make provision for the constitution of governing bodies or regulate the granting of degrees.


Style


Numbering

WSIs are numbered by the year they were made, and consecutively by the order they were received by the
King's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers ...
in that year. Unlike with Acts of the Senedd, where Acts are numbered in exactly the order they are received, there is no such requirement for the numbering of WSIs – an WSI need only be ordered "as nearly as possible" in the order the Queen's Printer receives them.


Citation

The recommended ways of citing an WSI are by its title – for example, ''The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024'' – or by its year and number (e.g. W.S.I. 2024/810). Some style guides recommend the use of both forms in a citation (as in ''The Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2024, W.S.I. 2024/810'' or another similar form).


Divisions

The parts an WSI is divided into have different names depending on the type of WSI and official guidance has been published by the Welsh Government. The divisions shown in the table are for the main body matter of the WSI, and the ''Orders'' column includes Orders in Council. It is also common, regardless of the traditional name of the division, to refer to a division generally as a "clause," such as in "interpretation clause" (which would provide information on how the instrument is to be interpreted). In addition to these numbered (or lettered) paragraphs, an WSI can contain unnumbered paragraphs. As with Acts of the Senedd, WSIs can have schedules annexed to them. Schedules to WSIs are divided in the same manner as Acts.


See also

*
Act of Senedd Cymru An Act of Senedd Cymru (), or informally an Act of the Senedd (), is primary legislation that can be made by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ) under part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (as amended by the Wales Act 2017). Prior to 6 May ...
* List of Welsh statutory instruments *
Delegated legislation in the United Kingdom Delegated legislation or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom is law that is not enacted by a legislative assembly such as the UK Parliament, but made by a government minister, a delegated person or an authorised body under powers given to ...


References


External links


WSIs on legislation.gov.ukDelegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
{{UK legislation Welsh law Welsh laws Welsh statutory instruments