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Government of Wales Bill

moved Amendment No. 92:"After Clause 115, insert the following new clause—" ““PUBLICATION OF LEGISLATION (1)   It shall be the duty of the Welsh Assembly Government to— (a)   publish all Assembly legislation on its being made; and (b)   establish and maintain a register of all Assembly legislation. (2)   In this section ““Assembly legislation”” means all legislation made by the National Assembly for Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Welsh Ministers, the Welsh Deputy Ministers and staff of the Welsh Assembly Government. (3)   All Assembly legislation shall be made in a form prescribed by the First Minister. (4)   The form and location of the register shall be prescribed by the First Minister. (5)   All Assembly legislation made prior to the coming into force of this Act shall be published and entered in the register within twelve months of the date of the coming into force of this Act. (6)   Assembly legislation which is not published and entered in the register in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be void and of no legal effect.”” The noble Lord said: The amendment relates to the publication of legislation, and it calls simply for a duty on the Welsh Assembly Government to publish all legislation when it is being made and to establish and maintain a register of all Assembly legislation. I would think that the unwillingness or the lack of mention of this issue in the Bill is more of an oversight than the result of a deliberate intention. All those affected by a law need to have access to it; I am sure that on all sides of the House we would accept that. The main gap in legislation, I am told, is in the period between 1999 and 2005, but all the legislation made by the Assembly needs to be published as soon as it is made, as we say in the amendment. This is a cry not only from one political party but from the Law Society, Cardiff Law School, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and the British Medical Association, and those organisations are united in the request. To publish legislation is a requirement of the European Court of Human Rights and of Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It is a requirement of Standing Order 30 of the Assembly, and in common law it is a fundamental requisite of the rule of law that the law should be made known. Anything less is totally unacceptable. Westminster laws are available, so why not those of the Welsh Assembly? We have a new legislature and it should be able to make its laws known. It is as simple as that. If people do not know how the law on devolved matters affects them, how will they know whether they are in breach of it? On matters of health, how do doctors know whether they are transgressing? How do patients know if they want to make some complaint? In schools and so on, how do people know that they are on the right side of the law if they do not know what the law is in the first place? I believe that the Government will accept the amendment. We will not press it to a Division if they are reluctant to do so this evening, but we will certainly do so on Report. This is such a fundamental issue that I am certain that the Government will be ready to listen to the amendment and join us in making sure that all legislation of the National Assembly for Wales is published. I beg to move.