Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for the question and for her commitment and her work in this area generally. Members will know that the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 requires Ministers to have due regard to the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child when exercising their functions. This requirement rightly continues to influence the...
Jeremy Miles: This is a really vital issue. I think, as I've said before, legislating for rights is important, but unless you know how to find your rights and how to enforce your rights, they will always have a limited impact. In terms of the accessibility of the law to children and young people, there are particular challenges and particular strategies that we need to use in order to ensure that young...
Jeremy Miles: I thank you for that question. I didn't mean to suggest that the Assembly wasn't also engaged in that work. Obviously it is, and it has passed legislation to that very end, so I'm obviously very happy to acknowledge that. She will know of the report that my friend the Minister for children and social services, as he was at the time, launched in March, which indicated where we are in terms of...
Jeremy Miles: May I thank the Member for that supplementary question? As I said to Suzy Davies, the Government has carried out an analysis of what we will need to do following the Bill, to ensure that we will actually attain the aim. I will take into consideration the comments that he has just made.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. If EU law continues to apply in the UK during transition, as Part 4 of the current draft withdrawal agreement envisages, EU legal obligations will need to be implemented domestically during that period.
Jeremy Miles: Well, just to be clear, the Welsh Government has supported throughout the efforts to secure a transitional period, and we very much welcome the agreement at the end of March European Council that there will be a transition period to 31 December 2020, subject to a final withdrawal agreement. We don't know, unfortunately, what approach the UK Government will take towards implementing EU laws...
Jeremy Miles: The Welsh Government has been clear that UK withdrawal from the EU should in no way lead to a dilution in rights protections. In terms of rights to move and reside, Wales welcomes and values individuals from around the world, and will continue to do so.
Jeremy Miles: The Member makes a very important point. In fact, as his question acknowledges, it's not about the individual numbers involved, because the impact of this on an individual life, or an individual's plans, can be very, very significant. So, it's absolutely vital that we make sure that EEA citizens have the same protection as EU citizens will have under the deal as we currently understand it....
Jeremy Miles: I thank Mike Hedges for that question. I should say that whilst not in my constituency, constituents in Neath would stand to benefit from any development of this sort, so I will declare an interest insofar as that goes. The Welsh Government stands ready to consider how it could use its powers to support alternative delivery models that may emerge from the marine energy summit and from the...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that supplementary question. He's right to say, obviously, that there's strong cross-party support in this Assembly and across Wales for the lagoon, which is why it's so disappointing that the UK Government took the decision that it did. As he rightly suggests in his question, the involvement of the UK Government was partly driven by the need for a contract for...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for his question and for reminding us of his support for a national energy not-for-profit, I believe, company. As I just said to Mike Hedges, there are clearly, as one knows from what one sees in the press and what discussions are going on, people who are looking creatively at what alternatives might be available to confirm the opportunity that exists in Wales—across...
Jeremy Miles: I have not discussed this with other law officers since the Attorney-General withdrew the reference of the Bill, as it then was, to the Supreme Court, and the Bill was given Royal Assent.
Jeremy Miles: The inter-governmental agreement is one that is clear on what needs to happen as regards the obligations on the parties to that inter-governmental agreement. As I said yesterday, we need to have assurance on the amendments to the Act that has received Royal Assent in Westminster. That means that more powers will be coming to this place, following that agreement. I'm happy once again to take...
Jeremy Miles: Last week, I sponsored the workshop here at the Senedd, 'Public law and administrative justice in Wales', organised by the Bangor University law school. The event was well attended and brought together leading academics, practitioners, legislators and policy makers to discuss current challenges and opportunities for administrative justice in Wales.
Jeremy Miles: May I thank the Member for his comments? I associate myself completely with his remarks about the UK Government's position in relation to legal aid cuts and, indeed, court closures and other retrograde steps. I wholeheartedly agree with him that the effect of that, in terms of people's access to justice, in Wales and across the UK, has been incredibly detrimental and, indeed, an outrage. What...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I think the point that I was seeking to make in my remarks to the workshop, really, was that the principle objective should be to get decisions right in the first place, and that decisions made with those principles in mind should lead us to that outcome. But I was also identifying the complexity of the current system, and the expectation, which individuals should have, that each person...
Jeremy Miles: Officials are in regular contact with the Lord Advocate's officials in Scotland. I last met with him informally in Belfast in August, and had informal discussions with him then. We await the Supreme Court's judgment, and I will be making a further statement to the Assembly when it's handed down.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I should say that I remain confident that the arguments that I put before the Supreme Court will succeed. As the Supreme Court itself said in Miller, withdrawal from the EU will enhance the competence of the devolved legislatures, and, as I say, I'm confident that that argument will prevail. He mentions the continuity Act that we obviously passed in this place, and steps are clearly...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. As a responsible Government, we are planning for all Brexit scenarios, including a ‘no deal’. As part of these plans, work has been ongoing and has now intensified on the subordinate legislation programme to ensure that all of the corrections that are needed to Welsh legislation can be made in advance of exit day.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I can confirm that we have been planning on a 'no deal' scenario basis, as one of the exit scenarios, and ensuring that we have identified all Welsh law that needs to be preserved following exit day, and taking steps to ensure, if a 'no deal' situation comes to pass, that we have legislation in place to preserve the current situation to ensure legal continuity and certainty of the law...
