Devolution for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales resulted in an asymmetrical constitutional framework. The Welsh settlement was more limited than that for Northern Ireland and Scotland. However, since the Government of Wales Acts of 1998 and 2006, Wales has eventually achieved primary law-making powers. Regrettably, the stages leading to the present position resulted in an often confused and confusing body of law. Practitioners wishing to know the content of Welsh law on a subject may encounter a complex tapestry of different types of enactments. The next step for Wales must be improved accessibility and codification. The process of devolution continues. This paper by Professor John Williams was delivered at the BIALL Annual Conference in June 2014.

“Wales, it has to be said, has come a very long way in a short time.” was the opening line by Sir David Lloyd Jones in his speech on, “The Law Commission and Law Reform in a Devolved Wales” to the Wales Governance Centre Annual Lecture in Aberystwyth in March 2013.1 This brief overview by Lillian Stevenson attempts to discuss this statement using selected documents published after the 2011 referendum in which the people of Wales voted in favour of extending the law making powers of the National Assembly.