Editing Wales (section)

===Law===
{{Main|2 = Welsh law|3 = Law of the United Kingdom|4 = English law}}
[[File:The Old Court House Ruthin Wales.jpg|thumb|The Old Court House, [[Ruthin]], Denbighshire, built 1401, following [[Owain Glyndŵr]]'s attack on the town|alt=A half timbered building of two floors, with four sets of leaded windows to the front aspect and one set to the side. The build has a steep, slate roof, with a single chimney placed left of centre. Steps and a ramp lead up to its single visible entrance]]
[[File:Laws of Hywel Dda (f.4.r) Judge cropped.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a Welsh judge from the ''[[Laws of Hywel Dda]]'']]By tradition, Welsh Law was compiled during an assembly held at [[Whitland]] around 930 by [[Hywel Dda]], king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. The '[[Cyfraith Hywel|law of Hywel Dda]]' ({{langx|cy|Cyfraith Hywel}}), as it became known, codified the previously existing [[Celtic Law|folk laws and legal customs]] that had evolved in Wales over centuries. Welsh Law emphasised the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim, or the victim's kin, rather than punishment by the ruler.<ref>{{cite web |title=History and Development of the Welsh Language in the Courts |url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/12003.htm#1 |access-date=7 October 2010 |publisher=[[Her Majesty's Courts Service]] |date=11 June 2007 |website=[[Her Majesty's Courts Service]] website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606124550/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/12003.htm#1 |archive-date=6 June 2011 }}; Davies (2008) p. 450; Davies (1994) p. 86</ref> Other than in the [[Welsh Marches|Marches]], where [[March law]] was imposed by the Marcher Lords, Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the [[Statute of Rhuddlan]] in 1284. [[Edward I of England]] annexed the [[Principality of Wales]] following the death of [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]], and Welsh Law was replaced for criminal cases under the Statute. Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained in force until [[Henry VIII of England]] annexed the whole of Wales under the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542]] (often referred to as the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543), after which English law applied to the whole of Wales.<ref name="HMCS">{{cite web |title=History and Development of the Welsh Language in the Courts |url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/12003.htm#1 |access-date=7 October 2010 |publisher=[[Her Majesty's Courts Service]] |date=11 June 2007 |website=[[Her Majesty's Courts Service]] website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606124550/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/12003.htm#1 |archive-date=6 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>Davies (1994) p. 225</ref> The [[Wales and Berwick Act 1746]] provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and the Anglo-Scottish border town of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick]]) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise; this Act was repealed with regard to Wales in 1967. English law has been the legal system of [[England and Wales]] since 1536.<ref name="Wales Hist 263">Davies (1994) p. 263</ref>

English law is regarded as a [[common law]] system, with no major [[Codification (law)|codification]] of the law and legal [[precedent]]s are binding as opposed to persuasive. The court system is headed by the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases. The [[Senior Courts of England and Wales]] is the highest [[Trial court|court of first instance]] as well as an [[appellate court]]. The three divisions are the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]], the [[High Court of Justice of England and Wales|High Court of Justice]], and the [[Crown Court]]. Minor cases are heard by [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]]s or the [[County Court]]. In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region (known as the Wales and Cheshire Circuit before 2005) came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region. From that point, Wales became a legal unit in its own right, although it remains part of the single [[jurisdiction]] of [[England and Wales]].<ref>Davies (2008) p. 453</ref>

The [[Senedd]] has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliamentary]] system to meet the specific needs of Wales. Under powers approved by a [[2011 Welsh devolution referendum|referendum]] held in March 2011, it is empowered to pass primary legislation, at the time referred to as an Act of the National Assembly for Wales but now known as an [[Act of Senedd Cymru]] in relation to twenty subjects listed in the [[Government of Wales Act 2006]] such as health and education. Through this primary legislation, the [[Welsh Government]] can then also enact more specific [[secondary legislation|subordinate legislation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Subordinate legislation |url=https://law.gov.wales/constitution-government/how-welsh-laws-made/subordinate-legislation/?lang=en#/constitution-government/how-welsh-laws-made/subordinate-legislation |website=law.gov.wales |publisher=Welsh Government |access-date=16 July 2020 |date=13 February 2015 |archive-date=19 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619065644/https://law.gov.wales/constitution-government/how-welsh-laws-made/subordinate-legislation/?lang=en#/constitution-government/how-welsh-laws-made/subordinate-legislation |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Wales is served by four regional police forces: [[Dyfed-Powys Police]], [[Gwent Police]], [[North Wales Police]], and [[South Wales Police]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Two of the four Welsh police forces 'require improvement' in the way they prevent and investigate crime|url=http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2016-02-18/two-of-the-four-welsh-police-forces-require-improvement-in-the-way-they-prevent-and-investigate-crime/|work=ITV News|date=18 February 2016|access-date=29 February 2016}}</ref> There are five [[prisons in Wales]]: four in the southern half of the country, and [[HM Prison Berwyn|one]] in [[Wrexham Industrial Estate|Wrexham]]. Wales has no women's prisons: female inmates are imprisoned in England.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8545805.stm|title=MPs urge UK government to build north Wales prison|work=BBC News|date=3 March 2010|access-date=31 December 2010}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/adviceandsupport/prison_life/femaleprisoners/|title=Female Prisoners|website=hmprisonservice.gov.uk|author=HM Prison Service|date=21 September 2000|access-date=31 December 2010|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110206184958/http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/adviceandsupport/prison_life/femaleprisoners/|archive-date=6 February 2011}}</ref>