England and Wales 275187 225894628 2008-07-15T22:13:49Z Dai caregos 6941762 /* History */ Correcting typo {| border=0 align=right cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- | align="center" |[[Image:Flag of England.svg|right|thumb|100px|[[Flag of England]]]] |[[Image:Flag of Wales 2.svg|right|thumb|100px|[[Flag of Wales]]]] |} [[Image:UKEngland and Wales.png|frame|[[England]] and [[Wales]] (red), with the rest of the [[United Kingdom]] (pink).]] '''England and Wales''' is a legal unit within the [[United Kingdom]]. It consists of [[England]] and [[Wales]], two of the four [[Constituent country|constituent countries]] of the [[United Kingdom]]. Unlike [[Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], Wales follows the [[legal system]] known as [[English law]], and the two form the constitutional successor to the former [[Kingdom of England]]. England and Wales are therefore treated as a single unit (see [[State (law)|state]]) in [[private international law]]. During the evolution of the [[United Kingdom]], Wales has been considered a [[principality]], the [[Principality of Wales]], rather than an incorporated [[country]], despite constituting a separate country ethnically and culturally. The [[Devolution|devolved]] [[National Assembly for Wales]] (''Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru'') was created in 1999 by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] under the [[Government of Wales Act 1998]] and provides a degree of [[self-government]] in Wales, including powers to amend [[English law]] from Parliament. These powers were expanded by the [[Government of Wales Act 2006]], and the [[Welsh Assembly Government]] can now propose and pass its own laws. ==History== The [[Roman occupation of Britain]] was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception of the land to the north of [[Hadrian's Wall|Hadrian's Wall]]). At the time, Wales and England were not separate countries: all the native inhabitants of [[Roman Britain]] spoke [[Brythonic]] languages and were all regarded as [[Britons]] divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit, the [[Roman province|province]] of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]]. [[Welsh law]] developed from this base. It was first codified by [[Hywel Dda]] (Hywel the Good; reigned 942-950) when he was king of most of Wales. The [[Statute of Rhuddlan]] in [[1284]] replaced Welsh criminal law with English law. Welsh law continued to be used for civil cases until the annexation of Wales to England in the [[16th century]]. ==Law== England and Wales are treated as a single unit, for most purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of [[Scots law]] was guaranteed under the 1706 [[Treaty of Union]] that led to the [[Acts of Union 1707]], and as a consequence English law (and after [[Acts of Union 1800|1801]], Irish law) also continued to be separate. Exceptions include the [[Welsh language]] acts of [[Welsh Language Act 1967|1967]] and [[Welsh Language Act 1993|1993]] and also [[Government of Wales Act 1998]], plus Measures of the Welsh Assembly passed since 2006 which apply in Wales but not in England. Wales was brought under a [[Personal union|common monarch]] with England through conquest with the [[Statute of Rhuddlan]] in [[1284]] and [[annexed]] to England for legal purposes by the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542]]. However, references in legislation for 'England' were still taken as excluding Wales. The [[Wales and Berwick Act 1746]] meant that in all future laws, 'England' would by default include Wales (and [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]]). This was later [[repeal]]ed in 1967 (for Wales, but not for Berwick) and current laws use "England and Wales" to refer to the legal entity. The other countries of the [[United Kingdom]] ([[Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland]]), as well as [[Crown dependency|Crown dependencies]] (the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]], and [[Guernsey]], each with its own legal system), are also separate units for the conflict of laws (although they are not separate states under [[public international law]]) (see the more complete explanation in [[English law]]). ===Company registration=== {{main|Companies House}} For the purposes of the legal registration of companies, England and Wales are treated as a single entity (companies are "Registered in England and Wales") with a unified register, separate from those of Scotland or Northern Ireland. However it is possible to register a company in Wales with a Welsh language name. ==Other bodies== Outside of the legal system the position is mixed. Some organisations combine as "England and Wales", others separate. In sports, [[cricket]] has a [[England cricket team|combined international team]] administered by the [[England and Wales Cricket Board]], while [[association football|football]], [[rugby union]] and other sports have separate national representative teams for either country. Some religious denominations organise on the basis of England and Wales, most notably the [[Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales|Roman Catholic Church]], but also small denominations, eg. the [[Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales|Evangelical Presbyterian Church]]. Prior to the splitting-off of the [[Church in Wales]] in 1920 the [[Church of England]] operated throughout England and Wales. The [[Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)|Electoral Commission]] maintains a register of political parties, organised according to where the party operates. As of March 2007 the Commission listed 8 parties registered as operating in England and Wales (as opposed to 197 operating in England only, and 11 operating in Wales only), the largest of which is the [[Green Party of England and Wales]]. Some professional bodies represent England and Wales, for example the [[Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales]], the [[National Farmers Union (England and Wales)|National Farmers Union]] and the [[Police Federation of England and Wales]]. Other examples include the [[Charity Commission]], the [[Environment Agency]], the [[General Register Office]], [[Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary]], [[HM Land Registry]], [[Her Majesty's Prison Service]], [[Mountain rescue in England and Wales|Mountain Rescue England and Wales]], [[St John Ambulance in England and Wales|St John Ambulance]], the [[Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales|Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants]] [[Livery Company]], and the [[Youth Hostels Association]]. England and Wales has its own [[order of precedence]] (see [[order of precedence in England and Wales]]), distinct from those of Northern Ireland or Scotland, or other [[Commonwealth realm]]s. The [[national parks of England and Wales]] have a distinctive legislative framework and history. ==Geography== If considered as a subdivision of the United Kingdom, England and Wales would have a population of 53,390,300 (89% of the UK total)<ref>http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=6 Official mid-2005 population estimate; England=50,431,700 Wales=2,958,600 UK=60,209,500</ref> and an area of 151,174 km²{{Fact|date=March 2007}}. [[Cardiff]] was proclaimed as the Welsh capital in [[1955]]<ref>Cardiff as Capital of Wales: Formal Recognition by Government. The Times. [[21 December]] [[1955]].</ref>. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==See also== *[[Courts of England and Wales]] *[[Judiciary of England and Wales]] *''[[English and Welsh]]'' [[Category:English law]] [[Category:Politics of England]] [[Category:Politics of Wales]] [[Category:United Kingdom law]] [[Category:Amalgamated placenames]] [[cy:Cymru a Lloegr]] [[es:Inglaterra y Gales]] [[ko:잉글랜드 웨일스]] [[no:England og Wales]] [[fi:Englanti ja Wales]] [[zh:英格蘭和威爾斯]]