Wales sets 1 January 2026 start for law publishing rules

If you teach law or politics in Wales-or you’re studying devolution-mark 1 January 2026. That is when Wales switches on a new, clearer system for making, publishing and numbering Welsh laws. The Welsh Ministers have made a Commencement and Transitional and Saving Provisions Order, signed on 4 November 2025, to set the date and manage the handover. The aim is simple: start the new rules on the first day of a new year so everyone can tell, at a glance, which instruments sit in the new Welsh series.

Here is the practical bit. The order brings key parts of the Legislation (Procedure, Publication and Repeals) (Wales) Act 2025 into force on 1 January 2026: new procedures for Welsh subordinate legislation (inserted as Part 2A of the 2019 Act), new publication and numbering rules (Part 2B), a duty for post‑legislative scrutiny by the Counsel General, an upgrade to the programme for improving access to Welsh law, and consequential amendments to tidy the statute book. Think of this as the toolkit Wales will use from 2026 to make and publish its own statutory instruments in a consistent way.

If you’re explaining this in class, start with what a commencement order does. A Bill becomes an Act on Royal Assent, but many Acts only take effect later. Section 9 of the 2025 Act let Ministers choose the day, and Ministers opted for the start of a calendar year so the first Welsh statutory instruments can be numbered from “2026 No. 1”. That decision was flagged to the Senedd’s committee during scrutiny and is now locked in.

So, what exactly counts as a Welsh statutory instrument? Under the new law, it is Welsh subordinate legislation that an enactment says must be made by statutory instrument, now treated as a distinct Welsh SI. That matters because Welsh SIs will sit in their own series, separate from the UK-wide series, which makes them easier to find, cite and teach.

From 1 January 2026, once a Welsh SI is made, a certified copy is sent to the King’s Printer for Wales. It is then published online with “WELSH STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS”, the year, its number within the Welsh series, clear subject headings, and the made and commencement dates. This updates long‑standing UK rules by spelling out, in one place, how Welsh laws are preserved, numbered and published.

Transitional and saving rules protect anything already in the pipeline. If subordinate legislation was made before 1 January 2026-or a draft SI was laid before the Senedd before that date-it stays under the ‘old’ framework. In plain English, those instruments continue to follow the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 and the Statutory Instruments Regulations 1947 for numbering and publication, rather than the new Welsh procedures. That prevents mid‑course changes that would confuse readers and users of the law.

There is also an important fairness rule for criminal offences created by subordinate legislation. Under the new system, a person facing proceedings can point to a defence if, at the time of the alleged offence, the Welsh SI creating it had not yet been published by the King’s Printer for Wales-unless the authorities had taken reasonable steps to publicise it. This mirrors the UK‑wide defence in section 3(2) of the 1946 Act and is worth discussing with students when you cover “ignorance of the law”.

Publication is not just about putting PDFs online. The King’s Printer for Wales must keep a public record showing, for each Act of the Senedd and Welsh SI, when it was published; and, so far as practicable, publish the law in revised form as amendments take effect. For media‑literacy lessons, this is a good moment to show learners how official online texts are kept up to date-and why the publication date matters for any defence based on non‑publication.

Teachers: here’s one way to make this real. Give your class a recent Welsh regulation and ask them to find its number, series year, made date, and commencement date. Then compare that with a pre‑2026 instrument in the UK series. Students will spot the new numbering convention straight away and can reflect on how clearer publication helps people follow the rules.

You might also be asked about the accessibility programme. Section 6 of the 2025 Act strengthens that programme by requiring proposals to fix errors or resolve ambiguities in Welsh law. The order makes clear this additional duty will bite for programmes prepared for Senedd terms that begin after 1 January 2026, so the current term’s programme is not reopened mid‑cycle. That keeps the focus on planning improvements for the next term.

For context, this package builds on the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, which set duties to make Welsh law more accessible. The 2025 Act adds the practical machinery-how to make Welsh subordinate legislation, and how to publish and preserve it-so learners can now see devolution working not just in policy, but in the way the law itself is organised and shared.

Key dates to anchor your revision: the order was made on 4 November 2025 and the new system starts on 1 January 2026. If you keep those in mind, you will be able to place any Welsh statutory instrument on the right side of the line and know which publication and numbering rules apply.