In a milestone vote on December 6th, the National Assembly of Wales declared Welsh as the official language of Wales for the first time. The measure states that “the treatment of the Welsh language” has to be carried in a way “no less favourably than the English language”. It also confers “a right to speak the Welsh language in legal proceedings in Wales” and creates a new post, “the Welsh Language Commissioner, with functions that include”, among other things, “promoting” and “facilitating the use of the Welsh language”.

Both First Minister Carwyn Jones and Plaid Cymru’s deputy leader in the Assembly, Helen Mary Jones, said that the vote was “historic”. According to Carwyn Jones, “this measure provides us with some of the tools we need to ensure that the Welsh language can continue to prosper into the 21st Century, alongside the English language”. Helen Mary Jones said that “the fact that this piece of legislation declares, unequivocally, that the Welsh language has official status in Wales is a giant and historic leap forward”.

Nevertheless, activists for Welsh language were not that happy. Although welcoming the fact that “for the first time in the history of our country, the Welsh language is an official language in Wales”, Cymdeithas yr Iaith rights group spokesperson Catrin Dafydd critised the measure: “This law empowers officials, not people, and the flaws in the measure will demonstrate that in future. We have serious concerns about the difficulty that will be faced in implementing it for the benefit of the language and the people of Wales”. Dafydd warned that Cymdeithas “will call for new legislation in the next assembly to empower citizens and deliver rights for everyone to be able to hear, see, learn and use the language in their communities, across the whole of Wales”.

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