Mick Antoniw: The Welsh Government has made representations on a number of occasions regarding appointing a Welsh member to the Supreme Court.
Mick Antoniw: ..., but to look very closely at the issue of access to law, and that is that people have access to the law, that people can understand that law, and that, as far as possible, there is advice and representation available for people to actually take up their rights in law. These are areas that are very, very difficult. Some areas are not devolved areas, but this is a new road for us to go down...
Mick Antoniw: The advice I would give to them is to make all the representations they can through their representatives—whether it be the Assembly, whether it be Members of Parliament—and also to recognise the steps that the First Minister and the Welsh Government are taking to argue this case. I’d also refer specifically—. I think it is worth, perhaps, us reiterating the point in ‘Securing...
Mick Antoniw: ...Kingdom, for 30 or 40 plus years, and that they may have voted in European elections, and yet they were excluded from participating in the referendum, and they do feel an injustice. There have been representations made with regard to the impact and the potential break-up of families that may occur, where one member may have to leave his wife and son. Now, it is all very well for a...
Mick Antoniw: ...we had a very specific Welsh voice in these processes. Without that, without this Assembly, without a Welsh Government, we would not have had that voice. We would not have been able to make those representations, and we would not be able to stand up in the way we are doing. That doesn’t mean that things ahead are easy, that there aren’t going to be considerable difficulties, that we...
Mick Antoniw: Well, of course, there was a consultation, but the point you make is exactly right, and was exactly the same issue as in my own constituency of Pontypridd, when that court closed. Where detailed representations were made, as they were in respect of Cwmbran and Abergavenny, showing that the basis on which the decisions were being taken, in terms of access to courts, was actually substantially...
Mick Antoniw: ...buildings remaining in Wales, after previous closure programmes, nine have already been closed under the current programme, and a further court, in Llangefni, is due to be closed. So, we have made representations. We continue to make those representations. Unfortunately, those representations appear to fall on deaf ears. This isn’t an area that is, of course, devolved. If it were...
Mick Antoniw: The Welsh Government has continued to make representations to the UK Government about the adverse impacts of court closures on access to justice, which, for many people, will mean longer and more expensive journeys to attend court and much more limited access to justice.
Mick Antoniw: Whilst not, perhaps, directly relevant to the question, the Welsh Government has made representations in these areas, in particular about the composition of the Supreme Court. The issue has also been raised by the Judicial Appointments Commission itself and by a number of justices themselves. The Member may well be aware of some of the comments made by Baroness Hale, the sole woman on the...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for the question. We continue to make representations. The proposed changes to civil litigation and small claims are likely to have serious impacts on people across Wales, and we are continuing to challenge the UK Government on reforms that restrict access to justice.
Mick Antoniw: The simple answer to that is ‘yes’. I’ll elaborate on it to the extent that we continue to make representations to the Ministry of Justice about its raft of reforms to the justice system to ensure that access to justice is available for everyone in society, including the most vulnerable. We have serious concerns about the quality of the evidence provided by the Ministry of Justice in...
Mick Antoniw: ...of the amount of work, the number of conferences between now and the fifth, the actual length of trial, and whether there are any cost orders at the end of that particular process. In terms of representation, I will provide in a further statement details of that. Obviously, we will arrange for expert representation in court, and that will be direct intervention and the submission of...
Mick Antoniw: ...able to give you a full answer on, because there are many unknowns. The nature of the intervention is really as I have set out. On what will be my intentions in the intervention, it will be to make representations about the role of Parliament in determining any changes to the devolution settlement, it’ll be the specific implications of the UK Government’s proposed use of prerogative...
Mick Antoniw: ...one, and I understand now that the four Welsh police and crime commissioners are also supportive of the need for there to be an inquiry into this issue. Can I ask the First Minister that any representations made will be supportive of what is the need to have an inquiry into a long-outstanding injustice that still remains in the minds of many former miners from south Wales?
Mick Antoniw: 7. Will the Welsh Government consider making representations to the UK Government in support of calls by Welsh miners and the South Wales NUM for an inquiry into the events at Orgreave in June 1984? OAQ(5)0026(FM)
