, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Codes of Welsh law: A programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law
Can I thank the Member for a number of very important questions, for his comments and also, as we've come to expect, an interesting history lesson on Welsh law and particularly the references to Roman law, which of course are more the base of the Scottish…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Codes of Welsh law: A programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law
Now, our consolidation of planning law won't cover cattle trespass and ploughing, but it will provide a comprehensive statement on the use of land, aided by the Law Commission's proposals to simplify and modernise the law in this area. The planning system is…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Codes of Welsh law: A programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law
Llywydd, this is a process we have started here in Wales, and I'm proud to have today laid the first programme to improve the accessibility of modern Welsh law, as required by the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019. This programme commits the Government to bringing…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Codes of Welsh law: A programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law
The laws of Hywel Dda are mainly contained in three collections of manuscripts setting out Wales's native and distinct legal system. Scholars agree that the most developed version is Llyfr Iorwerth, the Book of Iorwerth, which dates from the thirteenth…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I think there is actually a further discussion there. Government funds all the work in terms of the legislative programme and so on out of the allocation of the block grant. We may be 5 per cent of the UK, but if we pass a health Bill in Wales, or the UK…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Firstly, let me just start with the first part of your preamble. I am more than happy to appear before the committee as regularly as possible. I think it's important that the work I do, the engagement et cetera, is fundamentally scrutinised and I recognise…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I'm okay until 3 o'clock. I have to go into a Cabinet meeting at 3 o'clock, so I'm okay for about 10 minutes, if that's okay.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
My understanding is that it is, that there is a data dashboard that has been established, which certainly at official level provides access to that sort of data. The question you're asking, of course, is I think the question I asked when I was last Chair of…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
That is what we are going to be considering at the next meeting of the justice committee, and that is to consider a strategy, to look at them to work out at a timetable of what can be achieved. What I can say is, of course, I was due last week to have met…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Our priorities are, firstly, in respect of the whole of the Thomas commission, to actually identify those areas where we can reach agreement with the UK Government mutually. There has been some progress in some of those particular areas, in terms of, as you…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, it seems to me that the starting point is the terms of agreement on which those cross-cutting issues are there. So, for example, on international agreements, one of the areas that is most of concern is that, firstly, there is collaboration at a very…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I am certainly hopeful that we'll move to a process soon where that scrutiny process can start. It is absolutely fundamental, and has been a significant feature of the discussions over the common frameworks. As you know, there are a large number of…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
No, it isn't.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, look, the starting point is of course we were aware of the internal market Act, and you'll be aware that, of course, consent wasn't given to that legislation. In fact, we weren't effectively significantly involved in the preparation for that legislation…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, that has been one of the difficult areas because, as you know, international trade has been one of the areas right from the start that has been of major concern, even from the very, very early days, and that is that, of course, international trade…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay. Well, what I can tell you is I think we are more optimistic than we have been in the past; that there has been considerable progress; that we are beginning to look at the details of the terms of reference and that we're getting closer in terms of the…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, again, there has been a lot of work going on. We're looking, obviously, at co-chairs for the commission. I think you'll fully understand it's not appropriate for me to talk about names or individuals until all those arrangements are in place. We're…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I think it's always a mistake to look at things in terms of what is the position of this particular Government, or what's going to be the position over this year or next year. I remember debates in the early 1970s in terms of should there or shouldn't there…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Yes, I can, and I hope to be making statements over the coming weeks on the constitutional convention. The convention is essentially about the fact that we have a dysfunctional set of arrangements between the four nations of the UK. In my past involvement…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, it becomes a balancing act of what is most important and what is feasible. But I'll give you just one example, because you'll have seen the legislative consent memorandum in respect of the UK Government's Elections Bill. Now, there are bits within that…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Yes, I've given a lot of thought to how we go about this, and of course we see it within the context of what the programme for government is, what the legislative programme is, and what the opportunities might be in terms of codification and consolidation…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I see accessibility in two ways. Firstly, there is my role within the aspect of ensuring that people know where Welsh law is, that it's accessible by those who need to use it, as well as those who are affected by it. So, both from the position of the citizen…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Sure.
