Mick Antoniw: Thanks, Llywydd. This year marks 10 years since a series of draconian and punitive cuts to legal aid were passed by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government. The cuts were made through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. At the time, the justice Minister, Jonathan Djanogly, claimed that the Act would make legal costs fairer. Yet, since then, it...
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, according to the findings of the Law Society, legal aid is no longer available for many who need it. Those eligible for legal aid find it hard to access, wide gaps in provisions are not being addressed, and the Act has had a negative impact on the state and on society. It has led to the creation of a two-tier justice system, with access to justice being denied for so many people in...
Mick Antoniw: These perverse outcomes are completely contrary to the vision that lay behind the creation of the state legal aid system by the post-war Labour Government, and they are contrary to the vision and beliefs of this Welsh Labour Government. The vision was 'that whatever the difficulties may be in the way of poverty, no citizen should fail to get the legal aid or advice which is so necessary to...
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Member for those comments and for the various questions, most of which, though, did not actually address the fundamental part of the statement I've issued, which is actually about the access of citizens and people to legal aid and the problems that exist with that. Let me just deal with a few of the issues you raised. You talked about the funding of additional police officers. Of...
Mick Antoniw: Well, I thank the Member for those comments and for those detailed figures, all of which are ones that I'm aware of and are absolutely pertinent to the reality of this situation. I suppose the difference between you and me and, I suppose, the Welsh Conservatives, is of course that we have both practiced in those courts. We have actually had the direct experience. And in many ways what we are...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for those questions. Just in terms of engagement, well, of course, there's a lot of engagement that has been taking place to have discussions around a lot of these issues with the judiciary. The judiciary, of course, cannot engage in the political aspects, but it's important to engage in those areas where we can give support to collaborative issues, just like we have done with the...
Mick Antoniw: Well, thank you for those comments, and I appreciate the invitations to your committee, because it is an opportunity to talk about the work that is going on, to gain ideas as to areas that we could be focusing on, and it's an important part of the parliamentary process. Can I just say, on the issue of engagement with the committee, of course I'm very keen to engage as fully as is possible? In...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for that, and thank you for the consistent way in which you are raising this issue of access to justice, because it's important to everybody within Wales, in devolved and non-devolved areas. You raise the issues of Grenfell and Hillsborough. I would add to that the long-standing issue in terms of the coroner's courts and how that ought to be something that is devolved, after all, it...
Mick Antoniw: Diolch, Llywydd. The right to vote and participation in voting are fundamental to our democracy, and the Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that elections in Wales are fair, secure and accessible. We believe in expanding the opportunities for people to take part in our democratic processes, and we will resist any and all attempts to undermine elections and to make it harder for people...
Mick Antoniw: Yes, I'll take an intervention.
Mick Antoniw: No, it is completely untrue, and that is definitely not the case; it is about other measures taken to do what I've said all along, and that is that this Welsh Government is committed to encouraging anyone and everyone to be able to vote and for their vote to be counted. Now, I said earlier that the Equality and Human Rights Commission had warned of the impact of voter ID requirements, and, in...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Llywydd. The Queen's accession will engender mixed emotions for Her Majesty, because it also marks the death of her father. According to reports, she will mark the occasion quietly, and that is natural. Also, this will be her first year without the man who provided such support to her over the years, after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh last year. We all remember the striking...
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, the Government will be tabling its own motion, as we did 10 years ago at the time of the Jubilee celebrations, in the summer. However, it would be appropriate to mark the forthcoming occasion with some reflection. On her twenty-first birthday, the Queen dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth with these words: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be...
Mick Antoniw: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I move the legislative consent motion for the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill. Most of this Bill is outside devolved competence. The provisions with which we are concerned today are solely about increasing the mandatory retirement age for members of our devolved tribunals to the age of 75, and arrangements for sitting in retirement. These are...
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for their detailed consideration of what is a very technical piece of legislation and, of course, the reference that he made was with regard to certain changes and amendments that were made that apply to the firefighters' pension provisions, which were the result of legislative action, which I think ended up in the Supreme Court with...
Mick Antoniw: I have been discussing the very pressing need to replace the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre with Lord Wolfson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, most recently in a meeting with him this morning.
Mick Antoniw: The proposals in the consultation on the Human Rights Act are UK Government ones and do not reflect the views of the Welsh Government. We have published a written statement, on the 12 January, expressing our deep-rooted concern. My officials and I are now working on a fuller response.
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Member for the question. The UK Government has informed the Welsh Government that it intends to fully engage with the devolved Governments in conducting its review of retained EU law. We are pressing for further information in terms of what the review will entail, the proposals that may follow and the implications for Wales.
Mick Antoniw: Well, I thank the Member for that comment. I'd remind the Members—they may have read about it already—the concerns we have about the way this is actually being processed and suddenly rushed forward with apparently no clear reason as to why that might be the case. In December we received a letter from Lord Frost drawing our attention to a written statement setting out more detail about the...
Mick Antoniw: I thank you for the question. The points you raise are absolutely right—the issue of retained EU law and the review of law is something that is of significant concern to us, not just a constitutional issue, but the issue we have in terms of the statements that have been made across this Chamber from all parties about the importance of standards in the areas of food, environment and so on....
