The Welsh government is to start a public debate on separate legal jurisdiction for the principality. A green paper will be launched early in 2012, first minister Carwyn Jones told last week’s Legal Wales conference in Cardiff.

In March, the people of Wales voted to give the Welsh Assembly more law-making powers. Jones said: ‘We already have divergence between Welsh law and the law in England, particularly in education, health and social care. With the assembly’s new powers it will become increasingly divergent.’

He said that ‘although we now have distinct Welsh law, the law of England and Wales still applies in Wales. The challenge is knowing which law applies when.

‘The Welsh government is acutely aware that devolution law has added to the complexity of the statute book and we are looking at ways of improving accessibility including consolidation of the law applying in Wales,’ he added.