Section 25 – References to enactments are to enactments as amended
129.Section 25 addresses the situation where an Assembly Act or Welsh subordinate instrument refers to other legislation, and that other legislation is amended, whether before or after the Act or instrument is enacted.
130.Section 25 is equivalent to section 20(2) of the 1978 Act, but it seeks to clarify the extent to which its effect is “ambulatory” (i.e. the extent to which it applies to a reference to legislation which is later amended).
131.Like section 20(2) of the 1978 Act, section 25 of this Act deals with the following situation:
Act 1 is passed
Act 2 subsequently amends Act 1;
Act 3 is passed after Act 2, and contains a reference to Act 1.
In this case, the reference in Act 3 is a reference to Act 1 as amended by Act 2.
132.Section 25 also makes clear that it applies in the following case:
Act 1 is passed
Act 2 subsequently amends Act 1;
Act 3 is passed after Act 2, and contains a references to Act 1;
Act 1 is amended again, by Act 4.
Under section 25, the reference in Act 3 to Act 1 becomes a reference to Act 1 as amended by Act 4.
133.Section 25 applies to any reference to an enactment. An “enactment” is defined in Schedule 1 to the Act to include various types of primary and secondary legislation, and also to include retained direct EU legislation. Section 25 therefore applies to references to direct EU legislation retained in domestic law on and after exit day. This means that from exit day onwards a reference in an Assembly Act or a Welsh subordinate instrument to a piece of direct EU legislation as it has been retained in domestic law will include any amendments made to that legislation in domestic law, whether before or after the Act or instrument was enacted.
134.Like section 21 of the Act, this section extends the definition of “enactment” given in Schedule 1, meaning that it will also apply to references in Assembly Acts and Welsh subordinate instruments to a range of other kinds of legislation existing across the United Kingdom.
135.Section 25 has effect except to the extent that express provision is made to the contrary or the context requires otherwise. Section 25(3) makes clear that the operation of section 25 is not limited by anything in sections 22 to 24 of the Act, which make provision about the versions of Acts, Measures and direct EU legislation that are being referred to. Section 25 applies in addition to those sections.
