Government of Wales Act 2006

Supplementary

89 Rights and liabilities of the Crown in different capacities

(1) Rights and liabilities may arise between the Crown in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and the Crown in right of the Welsh Assembly Government by virtue of a contract, by operation of law or by virtue of an enactment as they may arise between subjects.

(2) Property, rights and liabilities may be transferred between the Crown in one of those capacities and the Crown in the other capacity as they may be transferred between subjects; and they may together create, vary or extinguish any property, rights or liabilities as subjects may.

(3) Proceedings in respect of—

(a) any property, rights or liabilities to which the Crown in one of those capacities is entitled or subject under subsection (1) or (2), or

(b) the exercise of, or failure to exercise, any function exercisable by an office-holder of the Crown in one of those capacities,

may be instituted by the Crown in either capacity; and the Crown in the other capacity may be a separate party in the proceedings.

(4) This section applies to the Crown in right of a devolved administration (other than the Welsh Assembly Government) as it applies to the Crown in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom.

(5) In this section “office-holder” means—

(a) in relation to the Crown in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, any Minister of the Crown or other office-holder under the Crown in that capacity,

(b) in relation to the Crown in right of the Welsh Assembly Government, the First Minister, a Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 or the Counsel General, and

(c) in relation to the Crown in right of a devolved administration other than the Welsh Assembly Government, an office-holder in that administration;

and “subject” means a person not acting on behalf of the Crown.

90 Documents

(1) A document is validly executed by the Welsh Ministers if it is executed by the First Minister or any Welsh Minister appointed under section 48.

(2) The application of the seal of the Welsh Ministers is to be authenticated by the First Minister, any Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 or any person authorised by the Welsh Ministers (whether generally or specifically) for that purpose.

(3) A document purporting to be—

(a) duly executed under the seal of the Welsh Ministers, or

(b) signed on behalf of the Welsh Ministers,

is to be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, is to be taken to be so executed or signed.

(4) A certificate signed by the First Minister or a Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 that any document purporting to be executed by the Welsh Ministers or signed by them or on their behalf was so executed or signed is conclusive evidence of that fact.

(5) A document purporting to be signed by or on behalf of—

(a) the First Minister, or

(b) the Counsel General,

is to be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, is to be taken to be so signed.

(6) A certificate signed by the First Minister or the Counsel General that any document purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the First Minister or the Counsel General was so signed is conclusive evidence of that fact.

(7) The Documentary Evidence Act 1868 (c. 37) (proof of documents) has effect as if—

(a) in the first column of Schedule 1 there were included a reference to the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister, a Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 and the Counsel General,

(b) in the second column of that Schedule there were included in connection with that reference a reference to a member of the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government, and

(c) in section 2 of that Act the reference to regulations issued by or under the authority of an officer mentioned in the first column of the Schedule included a reference to any document issued by or under the authority of a person or persons within paragraph (a).

91 Validity of acts

(1) The validity of any act of a person as First Minister is not affected by any defect in the person’s nomination by the Assembly.

(2) The validity of any act of a person as the Counsel General is not affected by any defect in the Assembly’s agreement to the person’s appointment.

92 Official secrets

The following are Crown servants for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1989 (c. 6)—

(a) the First Minister and any person designated to exercise the functions of the First Minister,

(b) each Welsh Minister appointed under section 48,

(c) the Counsel General and any person designated to exercise the functions of the Counsel General, and

(d) each Deputy Welsh Minister.