26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
So, it's not complete yet, but the process has started and we have started allocating. I suppose having the head of the secretariat is not a bad starting point for Wales, but I'll just have to update you when it's completed.
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
The head of the secretariat is an appointee from the Welsh Government. I'm told it's not a secondee, it's a loan. I think there is another staff member who's been appointed. Scotland are in the process of doing the same. Perhaps I'll ask James to expand on…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
I should say, Chair, there are some positive examples, as well, but I think they are a minority of the process.
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Yes.
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
I'll do my best.
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, I'm not sure that there is a disagreement. The dispute process is a whole series of stages that start off at official-level engagement to try and resolve disagreements. A lot of that actually happens in terms of legislation, where we identify aspects of…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, it should never have been a reason for the top tier of inter-governmental relations not taking place. I am trying to remember now, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that there has only been one meeting and that was in November 2022, if my…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Yes, I think so, you know. There are a whole number of areas that are about engagement, and those are always areas that are very much dependent on co-operative working together. But there are also other areas where the lack of codification of Sewel, and the…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
I'd say more generally than otherwise. There are examples where there has been good working, mainly at the inter-ministerial level on certain committees. I think when you get to the issue of Sewel and legislation it has been much, much more difficult because…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
There are some bits that have worked better. There are many areas where, quite frankly, it really hasn't operated—. I would say that inter-governmental relations are in a poor and difficult state.
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Yes. I did meet with Lord Dunlop when he came to the Senedd. He met with a number of persons to talk about the issue of inter-governmental relations. And it was a time when reform was taking place, the developing of—I think, started by Theresa May, in fact—a…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
It's worth adding, Chair, that one of my functions is, of course, the authorisation of prosecutions under Welsh law, particularly agriculture, fisheries, food standards and so on. Those have a cost, but those costs are absorbed within those particular budgets…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Thanks for the question. It's something we've been asked numerous times, and is very, very difficult to answer, because all we can say is, 'Well, look, most of the justice system is not devolved.' We are engaged with justice issues across a whole range of…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
The issue with jurisdiction—. I suppose it takes on a somewhat romantic legal image, but, basically, jurisdiction is just where the cases are heard and how they're administered, how justice is administered in a particular area. So, it's a very mechanistic…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
I think it's work yet to be done. I think the focus on those areas that we're engaged with at the moment is very, very significant. To attempt to look too far beyond that when you haven't had the basics, really, devolved I think would be a step too far. You…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, it's difficult to say, and you've got to be speculative about it, but I would say that, probably, if you have proper regard to the legal economy, to the legal profession, for those who work within it, to the courts system and so on, you're talking about…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Not beyond what we're doing at the moment in terms of youth justice and probation. I think the answer is, 'yes, all of those things', because the more of the justice system that is devolved, the finance has to come with it. If we don't have the finance with…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
We've focused predominantly on youth justice, probation and policing because I think those are the most immediate areas that are so engaged with devolved functions, that are the most easy to—. Well, I say 'easy' to facilitate; technically, I think…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Okay. Well, we have now an inter-ministerial group on justice, and it's an interesting group because now, obviously, we will have Northern Ireland becoming part of it. We've only had a second meeting; it's chaired by Lord Bellamy, who has been very open in…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
We're not in a position to fund that and, of course, it's not a devolved responsibility; it's not our responsibility to fund it. If we were to fund it, we'd be taking funds from devolved areas. Whilst it is a reserved responsibility, the noise that we make…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, it is, I have to say—. I'll perhaps give my closing comment on that first, and that is that I think we're now at a stage where we actually need to start looking and developing a strategy for how we see the role of the legal sector within our overall…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
No, I think, really, the focus has been on those areas. They're things that are easy to roll off the tongue, but when you actually start trying to define the consequences of what you actually mean by youth justice, where do you draw the line, and what in…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, we've moved on from making the case for change to happen, to actually preparing the ground for what we mean by the devolution of youth justice, for example how it would work in practice, what would be the legal mechanisms by which it could happen, what…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
Well, we've seen the recommendations, both in the independent commission recently and the Thomas commission, and we've also seen the recommendations that have come from the report that was prepared for the opposition by Gordon Brown, which specifically…
26 Chwefror 2024 , Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Sesiwn graffu gyda’r Cwnsler Cyffredinol a Gweinidog y Cyfansoddiad
There has, and what there has been has been a lot of—. I'll bring James in in a minute to add to it. You'll see we've recently published a progress report on the 'Delivering Justice for Wales' paper. That was the important paper because that really set out…
