PLANS have been presented to make new Welsh laws easier to understand.

Specific guidance has also been issued about how laws relating to Wales should be interpreted.

Announcing the new proposals in the Assembly earlier this week, Wales' top lawyer, counsel general Jeremy Miles, said cuts to legal aid meant it was more important than ever that people understood their rights and responsibilities under the law.

A consultation has also been launched into the guidelines contained in the Draft Legislation (Wales) Bill.

Mr Miles said: "One of our most fundamental roles as a government is to protect the rule of law, and to do so we must ensure that devolved law is accessible and understandable.

"We recognise that a clear, certain and accessible statute book is an economic asset.

"It gives those who wish to do business a more stable and settled legal framework.

"This, in turn, should help investment and growth.

"Public sector bodies and other organisations will more easily understand the legal context within which they operate.

"Policy makers within government will have a clearer basis from which to develop new ideas.

"Legislators will find scrutiny of laws easier, and it would make an enormous difference to those of us who may wish to use the law in Welsh."

He added Welsh legislation was complicated due to the complexity of devolution and the lack of a Welsh legal jurisdiction, saying he was concerned this "undermines democratic accountability".

Conservative AM David Melding welcomed the spirit of the bill, saying: "We are currently in a system where much of the statute book cannot be understood by quite gifted lawyers.

"You need to have real expertise in a particular area of law to be able to interpret it, and this can hardly be good, I think, for the public space in which we hope many people with various interests, who need to access the law at any one time, can do so."

And Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas reiterated his party's position that a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction is needed.

"For the first time, we are stepping out of the shadow of Westminster in the way that we draw up our legislation," he said.

"I welcome that.

"And as we turn our backs on the European Union, we are opening the door to a far more European approach to legislating, and to make legislation more accessible to the public."

Take part in the consultation at tinyurl.com/y9lqlfl6