To what extent are England and Wales one completely wedded jurisdiction?
<p>Are there any legal provisions that apply only to England or only to Wales but not respectively to the other? Why are they so closely associated with each other as to have just one tag on the site, but Northern Ireland and Scotland each seem to be their own worlds?</p>

<h1>What Do England And Wales Share Legally?</h1>
<blockquote>
<p>Why are they so closely associated with each other as to have just one
tag on the site, but Northern Ireland and Scotland each seem to be
their own worlds?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most laws of general applicability, such as criminal law, and private law (i.e. the law governing the interactions of private parties like property law, contract law, landlord-tenant law, employment law, etc.) are enacted by the National Parliament at Westminster (or effective as part of a shared English common law of case precedents) and shared by England and Wales which have a uniform integrated court system.</p>
<p>In contrast, Scotland and Northern Ireland have greater autonomy to enact laws of general application because more authority has been devolved to those regional governments than to the National Assembly of Wales. They also have their own court systems.</p>
<h1>Historic Causes</h1>
<p>Wales was basically fully integrated into England starting in the 1200s and subsequently restored some autonomy.</p>
<p>Scotland never lost its high level of autonomy and was initially joined to England only by virtue of having the same monarch, rather than being the same country. The United Kingdom was formed first by the personal union of monarchs from 1603 (under King James VI of Scotland a.k.a. King James I of England) followed by a federal style merger of governments approved by the Scottish and English parliaments in 1706-1707, rather than by conquest and it has much more government autonomy in generally applicable legislation and its judicial system than Wales does, and more than Ireland had when it was ruled by England. On the other hand, Scottish sentiment towards independence was not exactly unanimous in support of staying with the U.K. in the last referendum in 2014 when 44.7% of votes cast were for independence with 84.6% voter turnout (including voters as young as age 16).</p>
<p>Northern Ireland's story is a bit more complicated as Ireland had a legal status similar to Wales from a similar medieval era, but this was complicated by the Irish independence struggle ultimately leading to the creation of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The fine line and complexity of the situation in Northern Ireland is illustrated by this map, and strong autonomy was necessary to allow it to maintain the fragile Protestant-Roman Catholic balance in a divided society there:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/xdKM6.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/xdKM6.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Each of the components of the United Kingdom has a separate and historically determined status that is not exactly parallel to any of the others. England has no national assembly of its own, sufficing to use the national parliament for its laws despite the fact that some seats in that parliament that govern it are selected in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Likewise, before the U.S. gained independence, different parts of the U.S. had distinct relationships to the U.K., as did the various colonial possessions of the U.K. (e.g. India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, Hong Kong).</p>
<p>The U.K. is an exemplary example of the philosophy that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. To pluck out just one more random example of the English tendency, &quot;Scotland Yard&quot;, the national police force headquarters in the City of Westminster within the City of Greater London in England, has jurisdiction over England and Wales, but not over Scotland.</p>
<h1>Legal Distinctions Between England And Wales</h1>
<p>To provide a few other examples in addition to the example of language related laws noted by @WeatherVane (noted on my recent visit to England and Wales) and to embellish on that point a little further, the Welsh language is resurgent in Wales where it is a mandatory subject in public schools (often in the North with Welsh as the primary language of instruction) with about 30% of the population (more than 800,000 people) who either speak it as a first language (which is common among the very old and among young people in Northern Wales) by people who are mostly bilingual with English (but may reach for an English word or two now and then) or as a fluent second language.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Anglican Church is the established church in England, but not in Wales where it was disestablished in 1916. The legal implications of this are subtle, but not non-existent.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Government agencies are not required to hoist the British flag with primacy over the Welsh flag, and indeed, the British flag is rarely seen there.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Primary and secondary education are administered separately in England and Wales with attendant laws on issues like truancy, dress codes, financial arrangements, testing, and certain holidays. This distinction primarily exists to facilitate Welsh language instruction, which is the primary language of instruction in some schools, and a secondary language in others.</p>
</li>
<li><p>More generally, the manner in which many government services (e.g. public housing) is administered, and in which tax dollars are expended is not precisely the same between England and Wales.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Certain laws regulating immigrants (related to immigrant financial security and leases to immigrants, more or less) differ between England and Wales, although this is a temporary matter and the long term plan is for these laws to be integrated across the United Kingdom.</p>
</li>
<li><p>The Welsh Senedd (a.k.a. National Assembly for Wales, i.e. the regional parliament) has some independent legislative power, although honestly, the scope of its legislation is typically closer to what you might see in a U.S. home rule city or a school board, than in a U.S. state government. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Government" rel="noreferrer">particular</a>:</p>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>The 20 areas of responsibility devolved to the National Assembly for
Wales (and within which Welsh ministers exercise executive functions)
are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development</li>
<li>Ancient monuments and historical buildings</li>
<li>Culture</li>
<li>Economic development</li>
<li>Education and training</li>
<li>Environment</li>
<li>Fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety</li>
<li>Food</li>
<li>Health and social services</li>
<li>Highways and transport</li>
<li>Housing</li>
<li>Local government</li>
<li>National Assembly for Wales</li>
<li>Public administration</li>
<li>Social welfare</li>
<li>Sport and recreation</li>
<li>Tourism</li>
<li>Town and country planning</li>
<li>Water and flood defences</li>
<li>Welsh language</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>I suspect, but do not know, that land use regulation and occupational and business licensing in Wales is less favorable to big businesses and franchises, based upon the fact that such businesses are far more common in England than in Wales, even controlling for places that are similar in population density. But this could be due to historic or economic factors.</li>
</ul>

<p>Yes, the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/1/contents/enacted" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011</a> ensures Welsh remains as an official language in Wales.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://law.gov.wales/culture/welsh-language/welsh-language-wales-measure-2011" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Law Wales</a> page states</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (the Measure) modernised the existing legal framework regarding the use of the Welsh language in the delivery of public services.</p>
<p>It includes provision about the official status of the Welsh language and establishes the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner which replaced the Welsh Language Board.</p>
<p>The Commissioner’s principal aim is to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language and, amongst other things, he or she is to work towards ensuring that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language. The Commissioner also has the power to investigate alleged interferences with individuals’ freedom to use Welsh in certain circumstances. The Commissioner is supported by an advisory panel.</p>
<p>The Measure makes provision for the development of standards of conduct relating to the Welsh language which will gradually replace the existing system of Welsh language schemes provided for by the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1993/38/contents" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Welsh Language Act 1993</a> (the 1993 Act).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Road signs are bilingual.</p>

<p>Whole chapters in books are written on this question.</p>
<p>Maurice Sunkin, <em>Public Law Text Cases Materials</em> (2019 4th edn), p 166.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(a) ENGLAND AND WALES</p>
<p>England (a single territorial entity by 927 CE) and Wales (a principality) were created into
a single realm in law by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535– 42. For some purposes, England and
Wales are treated as a single entity. There is a single court and judicial system covering both of
these parts of the United Kingdom— although even here there is some differentiation, because
there are statutory rights about the use of the Welsh language in court proceedings that apply
only to proceedings in Wales.5 For several years there has been discussion about whether
Wales should be recognized as a legal jurisdiction separate from England, but turning this
into a practical reality, even if feasible, is not high on the political agenda.6 For purposes other
than the legal system, England and Wales are constitutionally distinct. Since 1998, there has
been a directly elected National Assembly for Wales, with law- making and executive powers in relation to Wales only.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>5 Welsh Language Act 1993.<br />
6 See A. Trench, ‘A legal jurisdiction for Wales’, Devolution Matters blog, 5 October 2015, https://
devolutionmatters.wordpress.com.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bradley, Ewing and Knight, <em>Constitutional and Administrative Law</em> (2022 18th edn). Pages 35-6. I bold faced the most germane sentences. You don't have to read the first para., but I quoted it just for completeness.</p>
<blockquote>
<h2>Historical development of the United Kingdom</h2>
<h3>1. Wales<sup>6</sup></h3>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>        While there is no need to summarise the lengthy history by which England became a single
entity, it is worthwhile briefly to examine the historical formation of the United Kingdom.
The military conquest of Wales by the English reached its culmination in 1282, when Prince
Llywelyn was killed, and his principality passed by conquest to King Edward I of England.
Thereafter the principality (which formed only part of what is now Wales) was administered
in the name of the Prince, but the rest of Wales was subjected to rule by a variety of local
princes and lords; at this period English law was not extended to Wales, where the local customs,
laws and language prevailed. From 1471, a Council of Wales and the Marches brought
Wales under closer rule from England, and the accession of the Tudors did much to complete
the process of assimilation. In 1536, an Act of the English Parliament united Wales with
England, establishing an administrative system on English lines, requiring the English language
to be used, and granting Wales representation in the English Parliament.7 In 1543, a
system of Welsh courts (the Courts of the Great Sessions) was established to apply the common
law of England. The Council of Wales and the Marches was granted a statutory jurisdiction
which it exercised until its abolition in 1689. In 1830, the Courts of the Great Sessions
were replaced by two new circuits that operated as part of the English court system. After the
union with England, Acts of Parliament applying exclusively to Wales were rare.8<br />
        <strong>The mid-19th century saw the beginning of a political and educational revival and occasional
Acts of Parliament applying only to Wales began again to be passed.9</strong> In 1906 the
Welsh Department of the Board of Education was established, the first central department
created specifically to administer Welsh affairs.10 In 1914 the Welsh Church Act was passed,
which disestablished and disendowed the Church of England in Wales. From time to time,
the identity of Wales was recognised as new administrative arrangements were made.11 In
1964, the post of Secretary of State for Wales was established, and the Welsh Office emerged
as a department of the UK government. Thereafter administration of Wales through the
Welsh Office was to an extent based on the model of the Scottish Office.12 <strong>Wales and England share a common legal system,13 but some statutes make special provision for Wales.</strong> By the
Welsh Language Act 1967, the Welsh language may be spoken in any legal proceedings
within Wales, by any person who desires to use it; and Welsh versions of any official document
or form may be used. The Welsh Language Act 1993 created the Welsh Language
Board, to further the principle in Wales that public authorities and the courts should treat
the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality. The Board was replaced by the Welsh
Language Commissioner as a result of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which
maintained the general principle that Welsh is an official language of Wales, such that people
have the right to speak and be spoken to in Welsh in all official contexts.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>6 Kilbrandon Report, ch 5; and Andrews (ed.), <em>Welsh Studies in Public Law</em>, especially chs 2 (D Jenkins), 3
(H Carter) and 4 (I L Gowan).<br />
7 27 Hen VIII, c 26. The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 called this the Laws in Wales Act 1535, but recent
Welsh writers have called it the Act of Union of 1536: <em>Welsh Studies</em>, p 28.<br />
8 See e.g. Welsh Bible and Prayer Book Act 1563: <em>Welsh Studies</em>, pp 38–9.<br />
9 See e.g. Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881: Welsh Studies, p 48.<br />
10 <em>Welsh Studies</em>, p 49.<br />
11 E.g. creation of the Welsh Economic Planning Council in 1966.<br />
12 See <em>Welsh Studies</em>, ch 4 (I L Gowan); and HLE, vol 8(2), pp 50–4.<br />
13 See e.g. Constitutional Reform Act 2005, ss 7–9.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Simon Gardner and Emily MacKenzie, <em>An Introduction to Land Law</em> (2015 4th edn). I cannot remember the page number, but I reckon p 47 of 569? This is footnote 1.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><sup>1</sup> Traditionally, ‘English and Welsh’, in that the two countries formed a single jurisdiction with a single set of rules; but devolution has created the possibility of divergence. To date, however, the rules in the area of ‘land law’ remain very largely common, so references to ‘English’ law may be read as very probably extending to Welsh law too. But for divergence, see eg Housing Act 1985 s 86, and Law Commission, <em>Rhentu Cartrefi yng Nghymru/Renting Homes in Wales</em> (Law Com No 337, London, 2013).</p>
</blockquote>

united-kingdom england-and-wales jurisdiction