unlike scotland and northern ireland, wales is not a separate jurisdiction in the united kingdom. the old laws of wales within the kingdom of england were abolished by king henry viii's laws in wales acts. this brought wales into legal conformity with england. between 1746 and 1967, any reference to england in legislation included wales. this ceased with the enactment of the welsh language act 1967. the jurisdiction is now commonly referred to as "england and wales". although wales has a degree of political autonomy, it did not have the ability to pass primary legislation until the government of wales act 2006 came into force after the 2007 welsh general election. even so, the welsh legal system remains english common law. this is different from the situation of northern ireland. it did not stop being a distinct jurisdiction when its legislature was suspended. a major difference is also the use of the welsh language, as laws concerning it apply in wales and not in the rest of the united kingdom. the welsh language act 1993 is an act of the parliament of the united kingdom. it put the welsh language on an equal footing with the english language in wales with regard to the public sector. welsh may also be spoken in welsh courts.