Jeremy Miles: I want to thank the Wales committee and the staff of the EHRC, including those who are here today in the public gallery, not just for the report but for the hard work they do to promote equality and human rights in Wales. I recognise that this includes the commission's responsibility to 'shine a light on uncomfortable truths', to quote the commissioner in Wales, Dr June Milligan. During the...
Jeremy Miles: The UK's exit from the European Union continues to bring uncertainty, not least in relation to equality and human rights, and we'll be debating those issues in more detail tomorrow. In these challenging times, the commission's work remains vital, and I again thank the Wales team and their colleagues around the UK for the advice and evidence they provided to our joint committee's report on...
Jeremy Miles: Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd. I'd like to thank Assembly Members for participating in the debate, which has clearly demonstrated why it's important that the Equality and Human Rights Commission continues to have a strong and distinct presence in Wales. Most of the contributions started from the premise that a society based on equality and human rights was a given, even if we may approach it from...
Jeremy Miles: Certainly.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member will have heard me say in my speech that, despite the investment in support services, there is still a mountain to climb and that remains our position. We recognise that, whilst the work we are doing is having an impact, there is more that we can and we must do, and that is reflected, I think, in the contribution that I made at the start in my opening remarks. We don't yet...
Jeremy Miles: The law in this matter is quite clear. The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 requires applications for planning permission to be publicised by local planning authorities. They are required to maintain a public register of applications, and detailed guidance is contained in the development management manual.
Jeremy Miles: Thank you to the Member for that further question. The legislative framework sets out the minimum requirements and responsibilities of local authorities to advertise. It has to be done close to the area and in a newspaper and, on top of that, flexibility is available for local authorities to expand the advertising that’s done for plans such as these. It’s a responsibility on them to...
Jeremy Miles: The Government recognises the importance of the legal sector in Wales, not least because a resilient and flourishing sector would underpin any new jurisdictional arrangements that may emerge from the work of the Commission on Justice in Wales. We are looking again at how best to support the sector, and that includes commissioning a piece of advisory work that would be potentially broad...
Jeremy Miles: I was pleased to be invited by the Member to the legal tech round-table a couple of weeks ago. It was an important opportunity to explore what is a very significant change in the legal professional services sector in Wales. I, myself, as I mentioned that morning, have met with a number of law firms across Wales since becoming Counsel General and I would say that wherever they are in Wales and...
Jeremy Miles: To date, I have made no representation on behalf of the Welsh Government regarding the legal obligation of local authorities in relation to regional education consortia.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. As he will know, local authorities retain their statutory responsibilities and accountability for school performance, and the regional consortia don't change their principal statutory accountability in relation to that, and that underpins their relationships with other local authorities. Regional consortia are, at the end of the day, if you like, joint...
Jeremy Miles: We have drawn to the attention of the Ministry of Justice a number of technical issues that could prevent or deter people from using the Legal Aid Agency’s online system. But the wider problem here is, of course, the hugely detrimental effect on access to justice of the UK Government’s cuts to legal aid.
Jeremy Miles: Well, can I associate myself with the comments the Member makes in her question? We have been making representations to the Ministry of Justice in relation to this point in particular. She will want to know that the data that the Ministry of Justice has made available indicates a dramatic fall in legal aid provision in Wales, with 2,440 fewer civil representations in the last year than in...
Jeremy Miles: The case raises an important question about the ability, or otherwise, to revoke article 50, which should be answered, to ensure that a fully informed decision can be taken on the withdrawal agreement and political declaration on the future relationship reached between the UK Government and the European Union, or in the catastrophic case of a 'no deal' outcome.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member is correct—the European Court of Justice heard this reference yesterday morning, in a four-hour hearing, with all 28 justices hearing the matter. It's obviously a very significant point. As it happens, the UK Government's position in that litigation is that this is a hypothetical, because they have no intention of revoking it, and counsel for the EU made the representation...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a great pleasure to be introducing the Legislation (Wales) Bill for the National Assembly for Wales’s consideration. This is a significant moment in the evolution of our legislature because, for the first time, we are introducing legislation that relates to the law itself. The purpose of the Bill is to make Welsh law more accessible, more clear and...
Jeremy Miles: While Part 1 of the Bill is innovative, Part 2 of the Bill follows a long tradition established by the UK Parliament in the nineteenth century when it first passed an interpretation Act. Statutory interpretation is the process of determining the meaning and effect of legislation and how it operates. This can be a complex process, so Acts prescribing rules on how laws are to be interpreted are...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for a wide-ranging number of questions there. I hope I manage to respond to most if not all of them. On the question of the definition of codification and consolidation, the basic point of the legislation is to secure more accessible law, and I think one of the key principles there is to allow definitions to have their dictionary definitions as far as that is possible. So,...
Jeremy Miles: You mentioned the interrelationship between the 1978 Act and what is proposed in this Bill. The cutting and pasting that you referred to is not something that we are proposing. I hope we will be able to secure a point in time for the second part of the Bill to become law that is easy to remember, so that Members and users of legislation in the future will know clearly that Assembly Acts...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you to Dai Lloyd for those questions. On the first question, on language, the proposals in the Bill could have a positive impact on the use of the Welsh language more generally in our law. That is, through codifying, it restates existing law as Welsh law. And as so much of that is still available in English only, the fact that it will be restated in both languages does create a corpus...
