Health Law in Wales

A Sêr Cymru-funded Collaborative Research Project

COVID-19 represents a political and a legal moment for Wales. Politically, the pandemic has been a site of struggle between devolved governments and Westminster. Legally, calls for a separate Welsh jurisdiction, based on the findings of the Commission on Justice in Wales in 2018 have gained new resonance. Variable lockdowns, realized through law passed by Senedd Cymru, have made a distinct Welsh ‘health space’ palpable. It is timely to ask whether a distinct and coherent body of law has emerged in this area.

The project reflects on whether a set of distinct values underpins this developing legal corpus, and poses the question: can Welsh health law be invented on the basis of values? The project will ask whether positive sources can be read with historic values of communal solidarity and welfare, to yield a normative underpinning which would be capable of 1) giving coherence to extant health law, 2) guiding future legislative initiatives in the field, 3) shaping the development of the common law after the (possible) creation of a distinct Welsh jurisdiction?

LEGAL TRANSPLANTS AND POLICY TRANSFERS PROJECT

This comparative socio-legal project focusses on recent initiatives to introduce deemed consent regimes across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, contrasting these to evaluate the significance of the UK’s devolution settlement in health law. It is funded by a British Academy/ Leverhulme award (SRG21/210296).

Led by Professor John Harrington, with Professor Anne-Maree Farrell (University of Edinburgh), it engages with policy-makers and stakeholders via qualitative interviews, as well as reviewing parliamentary, policy and media outputs across the four nations, investigating the values pursued by law reformers and the extent of policy learning between them.

Through this, the project will generate a case study of how health law is made across the UK, offering a comparative insight into policy convergence in the area of organ donation, contrasting with the divergent responses to COVID-19. Dr Matt Watkins and Ruby Reed-Berendt are project researchers.

Publications

J. Harrington, E. Thomas and B. Hughes-Moore, ‘Towards a Welsh Health Law. Devolution, Divergence and Values’ (2021) 72 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 62-90

J. Harrington, E. Thomas and B. Hughes-Moore, ‘Is there a Welsh Health Law? Values, Divergence and Devolution after COVID-19’, UK Constitutional Law Blog (2021)

Briefings

The following were developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Public Health, ‘COVID-19: Explaining the Legal and Ethical Dimensions and Providing Professional & Public Guidance’

John Harrington, Erin Thomas and others: How has COVID-19 changed UK health care law, and what does it mean for citizens?

John Harrington and Erin Thomas: ‘What are the implications of COVID-19 law and regulation for health professionals in Wales?’

Teaching and Outreach

The team contributes to teaching on the Seren Network for high achieving school students in Wales. For a sample of materials, see:

COVID-19 in Wales: Health and Human Rights Worksheet

COVID-19: Health and Human Rights PowerPoint

Team

Towards a Welsh Health Law: Values, Governance and Devolution after COVID-19 is led by Professor John Harrington, Professor of Global Health, Cardiff Law School and Cardiff Law and Global Justice, in collaboration with Dr Barbara Hughes-Moore, Dr Matt Watkins and Erin Thomas (Cardiff University), and Abbie-Rose Hampton (Kings College London) and is supported by a Welsh Government Sêr Cymru award and a British Academy/ Leverhulme Small Grant.