Programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law: 2026 to 2030 [HTML]

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Introduction by the Counsel General for Wales

And by the common counsel and agreement … they examined the old laws, and some of them they allowed to continue, others they amended, others they wholly deleted, and others they laid down anew.

Book of Iorwerth 1240

As Counsel General for Wales, I regard the accessibility of Welsh law as both a constitutional responsibility and a practical necessity. Wales has a long and distinctive legal history, often associated with the laws attributed to Hywel Dda. Many of the manuscripts of Welsh law preserved in our National Library in Aberystwyth are small and thought to have been designed not for library shelves, but to be carried by the lawyers of the day. That history is a reminder that law in Wales has long been connected to our language and the practical needs of the people it serves.

In the modern period the emergence of a distinct body of law made for Wales, and the continuing development of the Welsh legal jurisdiction, means that we must resume responsibility for the stewardship of our statute book. This is a task that my predecessors as Counsel General have embraced and I look forward to pursuing it with great commitment. In 2011, the Welsh Government first announced its policy of improving the accessibility of Welsh law, including through consolidation and codification. This was a long-term commitment later entrenched by the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, which now provides the statutory framework for the continuing work needed to ensure that the law made for Wales can be found, understood and used with confidence by those to whom it applies.

The Act requires the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General to prepare a programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law. The programme must include activities directed at consolidating and codifying the law, maintaining codified law, promoting awareness and understanding of Welsh law, facilitating use of the Welsh language, and resolving ambiguities and correcting errors.

This second programme builds on the work undertaken during the first programme and is focused not only on the core work of modernising the law itself, but also on how we can start to make better use of technology to facilitate that work and to present the law in a user-friendly way.

The programme therefore reflects an ambition that extends beyond technical improvements to legislation. It is part of an ongoing commitment to ensuring that Welsh law is recognised as a coherent, bilingual and accessible body of law in its own right – one which is capable of serving the needs of the people of Wales today and adapting to the challenges of the future.

Rt Hon Elfyn Llwyd

Summary

The government’s second programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law brings together a wide range of projects, organised under the following broad areas.

Consolidation and codification

consolidating allotment legislation
codifying wildlife management legislation and forestry legislation, and establishing a code of tribunals law
beginning the consolidation and codification of agricultural legislation
continuing the process of prioritising consolidation of the law on specific topics, with a view to creating possible further codes of Welsh law
incorporating subordinate legislation relating to planning law into the relevant code
considering how technology can expedite and support the consolidation and codification of Welsh law

Promoting awareness and understanding of Welsh law

further considering how best to present Welsh law, and information about Welsh law, online and in different ways to meet user needs
exploring ways to simplify the process of preparing explanatory materials to legislation, and looking for opportunities to make the valuable information in those materials easier to access, in particular through AI tools
better explaining the processes for making legislation
continuing to prepare and update revised versions of legislation published on the legislation.gov.uk platform

Facilitating use of the Welsh language

establishing authoritative Welsh legal terminology and bilingual glossaries for every new code of Welsh law
exploring how technology and AI can make the Welsh language text of the law easier to use

Resolving ambiguities and correcting errors

systematically identifying and correcting errors, and resolving ambiguities, in Welsh law

Strengthening the legislative infrastructure

continuing to declutter the statute book by repealing provisions that are no longer of practical utility or benefit
considering how our specialist legislative drafting software can be further developed to make legislation more accessible once enacted
exploring the development of AI-based tools to facilitate the drafting of legislation
will work with partners, including the Law Commission and The National Archives, to support improvements to the accessibility of Welsh law

Annual reports will be published in the autumn of each year following this programme being laid before the Senedd.

Activities in this programme often contribute to more than one strand of our accessibility work, delivering multiple benefits. Annex A is designed to illustrate where we see those benefits accruing.

Developing the programme

Under section 2 of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General must prepare and lay a programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law.

Each programme must include activities intended to:

consolidate and codify Welsh law
maintain codified law
promote awareness and understanding of Welsh law
facilitate use of the Welsh language, and
resolve any ambiguities, and correct any errors, in Welsh law.

A programme may also include proposed activities undertaken in collaboration with the Law Commission or of any other kind the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General consider appropriate.

Although a programme is intended to cover each Senedd term, it may include activities that began under an earlier programme if the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General agree that such projects should continue.

Activities that are aimed at contributing to the ongoing process of consolidating and codifying Welsh law

Consolidating

Consolidating the law generally involves bringing all legislation on a particular topic together, better incorporating amendments made to legislation after it has been enacted and modernising the language, drafting style and structure. This involves making no or only minor amendments to the substance of the law consolidated. In Wales consolidation of the law will involve for the most part re-enacting laws previously made by the UK Parliament and doing so bilingually.

In preparing the programme we have taken account of work begun under the first programme to consolidate legislation (first published in 2021 and updated and revised in 2024) that has not yet concluded. We have also sought to identify further projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:

the project concerns one of the areas of the law most in need of consolidation due to the complexity of the existing law
the project would have a significant impact on the citizen due to the nature of the law concerned;
the project is feasible taking account of what can be achieved within the context of competing legislative priorities, the availability of specialist resource and the current devolution settlement
the project is topical or otherwise connected to the expected work of the Government over the coming Senedd term.

Codification

Codification has 2 purposes:

the adoption of a consistent structure for Welsh law (‘codes’) and the publishing of those codes and the legislation that forms part of each code, and
the maintenance of that structure over time by amending existing Acts rather than creating further ‘standalone’ legislation.

In practice, codification is intended to improve the accessibility and usability of Welsh law for practitioners, public bodies and the wider public by enabling users to locate and understand the applicable legal framework more easily.

In improving the accessibility of Welsh law, it is worth noting there is a continuum of legislative approaches. This can range from “pure” consolidation (when the law is simply brought together with little more than structural changes) which, given the devolution settlement and historical nature of the legislation is not likely to be an option in most cases, to the more limited changes a Senedd consolidation Bill can make under the Standing Orders. It is possible to then move into Bills that achieve technical reforms (in some cases through projects proposed by the Law Commission) before getting to the full policy reform that government Bills often deal with.

The legislative projects that have been identified for inclusion in this programme sit along this continuum.

Consolidation of allotment legislation

The current allotments regime is spread across several principal enactments, including the:

Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908
Allotments Act 1922
Allotments Act 1925, and
the Allotments Act 1950

The legislation predates the existence of the Senedd and Welsh Government, was drafted for a different system of local government, contains amendments spread across multiple Acts and requires users to move between enactments to understand a single topic.

This consolidation will result in a single, modern, bilingual Act dealing with allotments in Wales, which co-exists more appropriately with today’s system of government.

Codification of wildlife management legislation

Wildlife management legislation has evolved from a body of law about ownership, hunting and pest control into a body of law that now includes biodiversity conservation, species protection and environmental stewardship. Each stage has involved new legislation being added to existing legislation instead of replacing it, leaving complex layering of provisions and inconsistencies.

Legislation in force on this topic dates from 1828, but of most relevance today is Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The aim of this project would be to bring together the principal legislation relating to the control, conservation and protection of wild birds and other animals, invasive species, and the protection of wild plants. It would also incorporate species specific regimes currently in standalone legislation. Through a new Act we would establish a new code of wildlife management law for Wales.

In 2015 the Law Commission published proposals for the reform and modernisation of wildlife law, which received widespread support. The Law Commission’s report proposed technical and policy reforms because of the inconsistencies within the wildlife management regime(s) that have developed over a significant period. This reinforces the need to do something about this area of the law but indicates that careful consideration needs to be given as to whether consolidation or technical restatement is the most appropriate drafting approach to take.

In addition, the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability announced on 10 September that ahead of the codification of wildlife management legislation, he will bring forward a small, focussed Bill dealing with disturbance of seals and establishing a close season that prohibits killing, injuring or taking hare. If enacted, that legislation would amend existing wildlife management legislation and will subsequently be incorporated into the new Code of Welsh law on wildlife management.

Codification of forestry legislation

Forestry legislation also has an interesting historical context and the rationale for the protection of ancient woodlands and planting new trees has changed significantly.

Forestry law emerged due to concerns about national timber supply, strategic security and land management. The principal reason for the modern forestry regime was not environmental protection rather it was the UK's experience during the First World War, highlighting the need to ensure a strategic supply of timber. In consequence legislation relating to forestry enacted from 1919 onwards was primarily concerned with timber production. Over time, however, environmental considerations have become increasingly important with the current framework requiring a balance to be struck between promoting afforestation, management and timber production on the one hand and preserving natural beauty, flora and fauna and other environmental interests on the other.

The aim of this project is to restate the principal legislation (the Forestry Act 1967) to create a modern, bilingual Act for Wales, and in that way create a code of forestry law for Wales.

Beginning the process of consolidating and codifying agricultural legislation

In February 2026, the Law Commission published its report, Agricultural law in Wales: scoping report, following work undertaken at the request of the last government.

The Law Commission confirmed existing concerns that agricultural law is currently spread across a high volume of statutes that are not easy to find or understand. Most of the legislation is only available in English and, given that legislation in this area also dates back as far as the nineteenth century it is, unsurprisingly, outdated in places.

The Law Commission concluded that a new code of agricultural law could be established and proposed a provisional structure within it of 4 new Acts.

This government recognises that the overall programme of work to codify agricultural law for Wales is significant and likely to take several years. It is also impractical to consolidate much of this law due to a likelihood that it may change in coming years. Nonetheless, it is important that a start is made on this work. Therefore, the intention in this programme is to begin the work to consolidate and codify agricultural law in Wales: we intend to start with the legislation relating to the regulation of, and support for, the agriculture sector.

Establishing a tribunals code for Wales

The government has announced that it will be bringing forward a Welsh Tribunals Bill early in this Senedd term to establish a new tribunal system for Wales that is modern, internally consistent and independent. As this will stand as the comprehensive statement of law on the Welsh tribunal system, we intend this will also establish a tribunals code for Wales.

Subordinate legislation subsequently made relating to the system of Welsh tribunals would then also form part of this code. This will ensure that users are able to find all the relevant law in one place.

Identifying future codes of Welsh law

As the government’s programme of legislation develops further, opportunities to create additional codes of Welsh law will be considered.

Maintaining codes of Welsh law

Continuing to develop the planning code for Wales

The Senedd has enacted the Planning (Wales) Act 2026 and in so doing established that there will be a planning code for Wales. Work began under the last programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law to prepare subordinate legislation that will form part of that code.

On 7 August 2026 the government published its implementation programme for the 2026 Act. This involves 2 phases of work:

the first is anticipated to be delivered between now and October 2027, beginning a programme of restatement of the existing subordinate legislation that underpins the planning system, focusing on the small number of instruments most frequently used by practitioners and which require substantive updates as a result of the 2026 Act
the second phase will continue the programme of restating, in modernised and updated form, the remaining subordinate legislation and will include amending and updating the wider suite of planning guidance and policy documents over the medium to long term.

Supporting codification

There are 2 distinct areas of work to support codification that the government will pursue during this programme:

firstly, we will explore how AI can support the consolidation and restatement of the law, particularly in the context of bilingual drafting when so much of the existing law is available only in the English language. We will draw on learning from the digital and AI projects described elsewhere in this programme, to develop capability and capacity for bilingual codification.
secondly, once a code of Welsh law is established in a particular area of law, it is crucial to maintain that structure over time by ensuring that any future changes to the law are achieved by amending the Acts within it, rather than creating further ‘standalone’ legislation – something that we hope to achieve through changes to the Senedd’s Standing Orders (a principle supported by the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee of the Sixth Senedd).

In addition, the government will look to work with The National Archives to support their work to categorise legislation (including Welsh law) on legislation.gov.uk and use this to develop functionality on that platform.

Promoting awareness and understanding of Welsh law

As Welsh law continues to develop as a distinct body of law, promoting awareness and understanding of it is vital to ensuring that citizens, businesses and public bodies are aware of their rights and obligations.

Creating a better online experience for Welsh law

The effective promulgation of legislation is essential to help people find and understand the law that affects them. This programme provides the opportunity to give more thought to how people access Welsh law and how we can support them to understand and use Welsh legal information in both Welsh and in English.

The government’s website – gov.wales – will be the primary publication method for information and guidance about Welsh law. We will therefore look to improve the content about Welsh law on that site. This will include:
- ensuring there is information about each Welsh Act that has been passed by the Senedd, and the legislation made under it.
- publishing all subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers that is not separately published by the King’s Printer for Wales on the site, whilst that legislation is in force. This includes directions to health boards, road traffic orders and School Admission Codes of Practice for example. Once the legislation is no longer in force, it will continue to be available through the government’s Library scheme. This ensures users will always be able to access all legislation as it affects them.
- developing functionality to enable the gov.wales site to become the way that codes of Welsh law are published. This work will ensure that the requirements under the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, relating to publication by the King’s Printer for Wales of Acts and Welsh statutory instruments that form part of those Codes, are maintained.
We will explore ways to improve awareness of other subordinate legislation where this has been made by Welsh devolved authorities, with the view to making it easier for individuals to find the information they need.
We will also work with the team in the National Archives who support the legislation.gov.uk platform to continue to develop and improve the functionality of that site in relation to Welsh law. This will include the way Welsh law is presented as well as supporting ways the data about Welsh law can be used.

Supporting different needs

Building on changes made to the typeface and layout of Welsh statutory instruments, and the work undertaken to make information about the British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026 available in BSL, we will continue to consider the accessibility of the format of legislation as well as its content. During the period of this programme, we will work with users of legislation and other partners to identify opportunities to provide legal information in ways that better support diverse needs, including through alternative, digital, visual or signed formats where these would improve understanding and practical use.

Explanatory materials

Senedd Acts are necessarily precise and often technical. Explanatory notes provide a non-technical explanation of what provisions do and how they fit together. This can help readers understand the effect of legislation without having to interpret complex drafting unaided. In that sense, the notes are not merely supporting documents; they are one of the main tools for bridging the gap between legally precise drafting and genuine public understanding of the law.

However, such notes also have their limitations: they are not intended to be comprehensive, they may become outdated if legislation is amended, and readers must still consult the statutory text as the ultimate source of the law.

We will work with the King’s Printer for Wales (the King’s Printer for Wales has responsibility for the publication of explanatory notes and associated documents sent to him by the Welsh Ministers or the Clerk of Senedd Cymru) and others to identify ways that the preparation, publication and promotion of Explanatory Notes can be developed further. This could include:

incorporating the preparation of notes into the legislative drafting software used by the government, which will improve accuracy of format and consistency of style (which are themselves helpful for preparation but also for future reuse of materials by others). Use of the legislative drafting software would also speed up publication of the notes on the legislation.gov.uk website once a Bill receives Royal Assent.
exploring the use of new technologies to present the content of explanatory notes differently, potentially by directly providing answers to specific questions as well as providing a narrative in the traditional (sequential) provision-by-provision way.
exploring the possibility of notes being updated, or additional versions of notes being available, if key Acts (for example, those forming parts of codes) are subsequently amended.

We will also work with the National Archives to support their ambitions to unlock the potential of other associated documents prepared by the government, and published by the King’s Printer for Wales, that relate to Acts and Welsh statutory instruments. At present, a limited number and range of materials are available, but we will look to expand that and support publication in .xml format to enable the re-use of data and information.

We will explore how we can make use of the Open-Government Licence for explanatory materials to enable others to use, share and build upon this data easily and without charge.

Understanding the processes of law-making

Continuing the work undertaken as part of the first programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law, this government will continue to develop and publish guidance on preparing legislation. This will aid understanding of the law-making process and the development and drafting of bilingual legislation.

During this Senedd term the Government intends to review and update, as necessary:

the Legislation Handbook on Senedd Bills
Common Legislative Solutions (guidance that helps public officials understand commonly recurring issues and learn from what has been done in the past to resolve them), and
Writing Laws for Wales (the legislative drafting guidance of the Office of the Legislative Counsel), which includes guidance on preferred Welsh legal expressions and drafting conventions.

We will also prepare and publish additional guidance on the processes and procedures involved in preparing subordinate legislation.

In 2017, the National Archives published the Fifth Edition of 'Statutory Instrument Practice'. This guide is written for those involved in preparing and making statutory instruments (which in practice means those that form part of the UK SI series and are subject to the Statutory Instruments Act 1946). 'Statutory Instrument Practice' was not written with the intention of providing guidance on Welsh statutory instruments (even though prior to 1 January 2026, these were subject to the 1946 Act) – although it acts as a helpful reference to those who draft and scrutinise such instruments. During this programme, the government will work with the National Archives to consider whether a similar guide for Welsh statutory instruments should be developed.

Revised versions on legislation.gov.uk

The government will continue with its long-term project to support the work of the team behind legislation.gov.uk to show revised versions of Welsh legislation (in both languages) on that platform. A revised version of legislation incorporates amendments made by subsequent legislation into the text displayed on the website.

We will also work with the National Archives to identify Welsh statutory instruments that are very regularly accessed and used – and have been heavily amended – to consider whether there is merit in restating such instruments.

Facilitating use of the Welsh language

We will continue to focus on ensuring that Welsh continues to thrive as a modern language of law in a digital and AI-enabled world. In this way we will be able to support and contribute to the wider ambitions of Cymraeg 2050 by creating more opportunities to use Welsh in legal settings, and support Welsh as a modern language of government, law and public administration.

Each Bill prepared by the government involves a formal process of agreeing bilingual terminology. But codification has a particular linguistic benefit as every major consolidation or restatement:

creates an opportunity to modernise Welsh legislative language
removes inconsistencies that have inadvertently emerged through decades of amendment
produces coherent Welsh terminology across an entire subject area, and
makes Welsh law easier to teach and administer in Welsh.

For codes of Welsh law, the process of agreeing terminology will support the development of both the Act(s) and subordinate legislation that will form part of a code and will also include publication of a bilingual legal glossary for that code. This work will also boost the expansion of TermCymru as an authoritative terminology database, which includes legal and technical terminology used in Welsh legislation, and of BydTermCymru as a repository for legislative glossaries.

The glossary that accompanied the development of a planning Code for Wales is an example of how producing authoritative terminology in an accessible way can support the use of Welsh across an entire field of law.

A modern language of the law increasingly depends on digital tools. During this programme we will be exploring how technology and AI can make the Welsh language text of our legislation easier to access, develop and understand. We will:

support and continue to develop, in partnership with the National Archives, a Welsh language interface for our legislative drafting software.
look to work with developers and the National Archives to:
- improve Welsh-language support in legal tools
- consider how Welsh legislation could help the development of future Welsh-language AI tools.

We believe that increasing the capability of AI tools to read and use Welsh-language legislation will develop the vital ecosystem of education, supporting materials and legal discourse that ultimately aids practitioners to work in Welsh. It can also ‘close the loop’ by supporting the development of legislation in the first place, helping ensure that Welsh is a language through which legislation is conceived and drafted.

The establishment of a modern Welsh tribunals system through the forthcoming tribunals Bill also provides an important opportunity to support the practical use of Welsh in the administration of justice. The Welsh language already benefits from statutory protection in courts and tribunals, and the President of Welsh Tribunals has prioritised promoting the use of the Welsh language across the current Welsh Tribunals where each tribunal can provide administrative services and hearings in the Welsh language. However, the use of the Welsh language in tribunal settings remains small. The creation of a clearer and more coherent tribunals system for Wales enables us to consider, with the tribunals’ judiciary and other partners, how those rights can be supported in practice. The proposed Appeal Tribunal for Wales will be central to developing the jurisprudence of Wales, and together with support of the Welsh language in practice will, over time, help develop Welsh-language legal reasoning in areas of devolved law and strengthen the body of Welsh legal terminology used by practitioners, tribunal users and the wider public.

Resolving any ambiguities and correcting any errors in Welsh law

Although the government is obviously committed to avoiding errors, inconsistencies or ambiguities in legislation, where they come to light, we will promptly consider whether action is needed. Where it is, we will bring forward the appropriate correction or resolution. This approach supports the ongoing maintenance and improvement of Welsh law, recognising the complexities of the existing amalgam of legislative sources.

The government will:

maintain a record of the need for corrections in relation to errors or ambiguities that have been identified by the courts, the Senedd’s Legislation Committee, regulators and practitioners, as well as by the government itself
monitor errors or ambiguities with the aim of ensuring that similar errors or ambiguities are not repeated in future
prioritise dealing with those errors or ambiguities by taking account of relevant factors including legal risk, impact on users of the legislation, anticipated frequency of use (of the legislation) and how best the correction may be achieved
use consolidation Bills as opportunities to resolve ambiguities, but only to the extent permitted by the Senedd’s Standing Orders, and
draw corrections made to subordinate legislation to the attention of the Legislation Committee, through the Explanatory Memorandum that is laid before the Senedd with each Welsh statutory instrument.

Through our work annotating Welsh law on legislation.gov.uk, the government can also ensure that the corrections are displayed in a timely manner on that platform.

Other activities

Repealing provisions

The government intends to consult on a Bill that would repeal or disapply legislative provisions from across the statute book that are no longer of practical utility or benefit in relation to Wales. Removing unnecessary provisions helps to “declutter” the statute book.

Future legislative drafting practice

From October 2026, the Welsh Government and the Senedd Commission will be partners in Lawmaker – a legislative drafting and management system developed by the National Archives in collaboration with the legislatures and government legislative drafting offices of the UK. We will, through this partnership, support the further development of the system. This could include:

supporting users to prepare Infrastructure Consenting Orders for Wales within the Lawmaker system
enabling NWSIs (subordinate legislation made by or behalf of the Welsh Ministers but not in the form of a Welsh statutory instrument) to be prepared within Lawmaker
integrating specialist translation software to support the development of bilingual legislation.

The government will also continue to explore the development of trustworthy, bilingual, AI-assisted tools that embody Welsh drafting practices and constitutional requirements.

Tribunal decisions

As part of the wider work associated with the tribunals bill, we will explore opportunities to strengthen the arrangements for publishing tribunal decisions.

Law Commission

We will continue to work with the Law Commission for England and Wales to identify projects relating to Welsh law for inclusion in their ongoing Programmes of Law Reform. We will also work with the Law Commission on other projects they undertake, where there are potential impacts for the operation and development of Welsh law.

Reporting

Under the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, the Counsel General is required to report annually to the Senedd on the progress of the programme. The first report will be due in 2027.

The report that is due in 2028 will include the Counsel General’s findings of his review into the operation of Parts 2A and 2B of the 2019 Act, as required under section 42A of that Act.