Welsh Courts Act 1942

The Welsh Courts Act 1942[1] is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed the Welsh language to be used in courts in Wales and Monmouthshire provided that the person speaking would be under a disadvantage in having to speak English.

Welsh Courts Act 1942

Long title	An Act to repeal section seventeen of the statute 27 Hen. 8. c. 26, to remove doubt as to the right of Welsh speaking persons to testify in the Welsh language in courts of justice in Wales, and to enable rules to be made for the administration of oaths and affirmations in that language, and for the provision, employment, and payment, of interpreters in such courts.
Citation	5 & 6 Geo. 6 c. 40
Territorial extent	Wales and Monmouthshire
Dates
Royal assent	22 October 1942
Repealed	21 December 1992
Other legislation
Repealed by	Welsh Language Act 1967 Welsh Language Act 1993
Relates to	Laws of Wales Act 1536
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Section 1 of the Act repealed section 17 of the Laws of Wales Act 1536 and stipulated that

the Welsh language may be used in any court in Wales by any party or witness who considers that he would otherwise be at any disadvantage by reason of his natural language of communication being Welsh.

Section 2 of the Act allowed oaths and affirmations to be taken in Welsh with like effect as with English.

Section 1 of the Act was repealed by the Welsh Language Act 1967, which extended the right to use Welsh in legal proceedings to any person who wished to do so, and the rest by the Welsh Language Act 1993 which made Welsh an official language of Wales.