A wnaiff Llywodraeth Cymru ddyfynnu pa bwerau cyfreithiol penodol a arferwyd i gyflwyno y gwaharddiad ar werthu eitemau nad ydynt yn hanfodol mewn archfarchnadoedd a'r disgrifiad ohonynt?
The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”), which were in force between 23 October and 9 November are made under sections 45C(1) and (3)(c), 45F(2) and 45P of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 in response to the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wales.
These are health protection powers allowing Welsh Minsters to make regulations for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection or contamination.
Among other things, the Regulations provided a statutory mechanism for closing certain businesses or parts of businesses, and keeping certain businesses open. The rationale behind this was to mitigate the risk of people leaving home unnecessarily. Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Regulations listed certain categories of shop which were able to be open during this perid, and a corresponding reasonable excuse is provided for at Regulation 3 where people can leave home to go to such shops if they need to. Under Regulation 3, it was a reasonable excuse to leave home and go to a shop to purchase goods including food and medical supplies, and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household. These are some of the items that are deemed to be essential – but this statutory provision is not an exhaustive list of what is “essential”. The Regulations did not provide a statutory definition for an essential or non-essential item and did not provide a statutory ban on the sale of those items in supermarkets.
The Welsh Government produced accompanying guidance to the Regulations, including guidance on the closure of businesses and premises (https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid-19-closure-businesses-and-premises-html).