'Living in the Midst of Change – 2'

Tuesday 27 November 2007
2007 Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs Annual Lecture
Department of Law and Criminology, Aberystwyth University
‘Living in the Midst of Change – 2'

Jason Chess, Solicitor and Partner with the specialist media and technology law firm Wiggin LLP, will deliver the 2007 Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs Annual Lecture at Aberystwyth University on Friday 30 November.

In his lecture, ‘Living in the Midst of Change – 2', Mr Chess will consider the regulation of broadcasting in Wales, the effects of the switchoff of the analogue signal for Welsh and English regional programming and whether broadcasting policy and budget should be devolved to the Welsh Assembly.

In a preview to the lecture Mr Chess writes:
“We will look first at the facts of digital convergence whereby a multiplicity of high speed digital media are commonly available to all. The development of the current digital media platforms will be explained and future developments and distribution channels considered. The gains and losses of the Welsh audiovisual consumer in this new world will be considered and we will look at the statutory and constitutional apparatus that currently requires broadcasters to cater for Welsh needs, both in English and in Welsh.”

“We will consider whether the switchoff of the analogue signal will be good or bad for Welsh and English regional programming provision in Wales and whether Welsh audiovisual consumers will benefit more or less from a totally digital universe.”

“Finally we will ask whether Wales needs broadcasting policy and budget to be devolved to Cardiff or whether it is in our interests to continue to be legislated for by Westminster. How will the Welsh language cope and compete for viewers with 600 other channels available on Sky without its analogue signal and how much longer will budgetary cuts at the BBC and commercial pressures within ITV allow Welsh-interest English language programming to be made at all? Can the law force a cultural solution appropriate to a small country against the desperate need of content providers to compete in an anarchic universe of commoditised on-demand television where even viewers will be making their own content?"

The lecture takes place in the Main Hall of the International Politics Building on the Penglais Campus and starts at 7.00 p.m.

The Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs
The Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs (CWLA) is housed within the Department of Law and Criminology at Aberystwyth University. It was launched in January 1999 to consolidate, and provide a focus for, the Department’s expertise and work on the law as it applies within Wales and on general legal developments of relevance to Wales. The Director is Ms Ann Sherlock, Senior Lecturer in Law at the Department of Law and Criminology.

A key aim of the Centre is to explore whether there is a distinct Welsh perspective on general legal questions within the common legal system of England and Wales and to ensure that Welsh legal developments are placed in the wider context of developments at the UK, European and international levels. Devolution is not just a question affecting Wales: it is a live issue in Scotland, Northern Ireland, London, the English regions and in many other parts of Europe. The Centre collaborates with other institutions throughout the UK and elsewhere to consider legal developments within other devolved jurisdictions on a comparative basis.

The establishment of the Centre was prompted by devolution, the setting up of the National Assembly for Wales and the emergence of a more distinct Welsh legal order. Work on the operation of devolution currently forms a large part of the Centre’s activities, both as regards the public law side concerning the structures and operations of the Assembly itself and the substantive law and policy developed by the Assembly. However, the work goes wider than the process and operation of devolution: other relevant projects being carried out by members of the Centre include work on human rights, freedom of information, the Welsh language, and criminal justice in a Welsh context. Examining these issues with regard to Wales on a comparative basis enhances our understanding of the general areas and broadens rather than narrows our perspective on them.