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Government of Wales Bill

I, too, support the new clause and have put my name to it. It is promoted by the Law Society and supported by the BMA in Wales. It is important because it is obviously vital that legislation is publicly accessible and that people know what the law is. I regret that, apparently, that has not been the case in Wales after devolution in spite of the persistent and sterling efforts of the Cardiff Law School team, led by David Lambert, formerly a law officer at the Welsh Office. I knew him personally during my ministerial years and valued the near-infallible quality of his advice. The Government have been aware for some time of this serious deficiency whereby the legal system cannot operate properly. Solicitors cannot properly advise their clients and risk actions for negligent advice. But remedial action has been taken only belatedly. The Presiding Officer has established a system to produce and publish legislation on the Assembly’s website as from January this year—but, as the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, said, the period before that has not been provided for. Figures provided by the Law Society estimate that some 1,200 pieces of non-general statutory instrument legislation have been made each year since the National Assembly was established in 1999—that amounts to more than 6,000 in all—and they are still in a mess. So bad is the situation that the Law Society suggests that, if that legislation cannot be sorted out and registered within a year of this Bill being enacted, it be declared null and void. That is provided for in this new clause, which also lays a duty on the Assembly Government to publish legislation and to maintain a register of it, which is surely where their duty should lie. Much more could be said, but as we are trying to hurry along to the end of the Committee stage this evening, I shall refrain from doing so.