9. Motion to agree to the First Minister's recommendation to Her Majesty to appoint a Counsel General

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 14 November 2017.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 4:50, 14 November 2017

(Translated)

Thank you, Llywydd. The second reason why Plaid Cymru wants to change the system here is that we would want to see a system of pre-appointment hearings for a Counsel General. It is a system that is provided in those nations where law officials are appointed by the Congress—in the United States for example, where there is an open hearing. It is a system that has been experimented with in this place. The Finance Committee has used the system to appoint the chair of the WRA and I hope we will see more of that. It would be a good thing for the Counsel General to appear before the most appropriate committee—the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, I suppose, but it could be a temporary committee to deal with the issue—to demonstrate how he or she would want to undertake the role, how he or she would respond to requests from Assembly Members and to show that he or she would be an appropriate individual for this post.