Cwestiwn ysgrifenedig WQ85557

The Badge appears on the cover of the paper copy of larger Welsh Statutory Instruments (rather than all Welsh secondary legislation). It is not clear when this practice started, although it was certainly in use in 1967 in a statutory instrument from that year made by the (then) Welsh Office. The National Assembly for Wales continued to use the same badge for the statutory instruments which it made from 1999 onwards and so, subsequently, have the Welsh Ministers.

The First Minister, the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General exercise their functions on behalf of the Crown (section 57(2) of the Government of Wales Act 2006). The 1998 Assembly did likewise (section 1(3) of Government of Wales Act 1998 – “The exercise by the Assembly of its functions is to be regarded as done on behalf of the Crown”), as does the Secretary of State for Wales. Accordingly, the badge is an expression of the fact that the statutory instruments are made for Wales on behalf of the Crown.

There are different insignia in use on legislation made for the different nations of Great Britain and they vary depending on whether that legislation is made by the legislature or the executive. For example, the Scottish version of the Royal Coat of arms of the United Kingdom appears on the covers of Acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, but the Crest of the Royal Arms of Scotland appears on Scottish Statutory Instruments made by the Scottish Ministers.

As part of this Government’s programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law, we will be considering a range of matters relating to secondary legislation, including whether Welsh statutory instruments should continue to be published as a subseries of the UK statutory instrument series.