May I welcome the Counsel General’s statement this afternoon? May I also welcome the intention and also welcome the appearance of the Welsh Government prosecution code, because this builds on gaining legislative powers here in Wales? Of course, the Counsel General will be too young to remember the Acts of Hywel Dda, over 1,000 years ago, but we’ve had these powers to make legislation in Wales in the past and to prosecute people, so I see this as a first step in regaining that legislative ground. That is why you will get a warm welcome from this party in terms of your intentions in this area.

There are challenges, of course, because, as you’ve already mentioned, and it’s well known to everyone, criminal justice is currently not devolved, but the Government here does have powers to prosecute people who transgress in those devolved areas—as you’ve mentioned: fisheries, animal welfare, food, social care and children. Of course, there will be a challenge when the offence can be seen as being more grave than the powers that we have in those devolved areas. I’d just like to learn more about the process there, but I do welcome the intention to have this clear code, which will be accessible and proportionate for the work that needs to be done. Because it’s very important—although we only have powers to prosecute people who offend in devolved areas at the moment, those areas are hugely important. Safeguarding our natural resources, for example, is crucially important. It’s important that you, as Counsel General, should have the power to actually tackle that problem.

I follow on from David Melding’s question on human rights legislation in that same manner of thinking about how relatively serious issues in devolved areas are going to be dealt with when you have two different codes, as you have already mentioned—your code and the CPS code. There is challenge there. I would support you in doing the very best that you can and in ensuring that all boundaries are pushed to their full extent to ensure that your prosecution code as a Government is sufficiently powerful to ensure that we can do what it is expected to do. Because at the end of the day, what we want to see here, as we step forward and see further devolution, is a Welsh prosecution service and also a Welsh legal jurisdiction that would be separate to the England and Wales jurisdiction, as we currently have it.

In the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, we have been scrutinising legislation in this place, which is now naturally bilingual, and there is a challenge there too in terms of how we develop law in the future and how we prosecute people in these devolved areas in moving forward. I also saw one of the phrases in the consultation asking, ‘Well, what of the Welsh language?’ and ‘Is it possible to prosecute through the medium of Welsh?’, and I would hope that you would be able to confirm that it is possible that you could prosecute individuals in these areas through the medium of the Welsh language.

Of course, in concluding, we do need to ensure that there is consistency in legislation. We have heard talk in this Chamber in terms of ensuring that new legislation runs in accordance with the previous legislation and brings bilingualism into it, so that eventually we can simplify all legal codes as we move forward. So, could I ask you to explain how much broader work is ongoing in terms of the need to ensure that your Government’s prosecution code will be successful in this regard?

The fundamental point, of course, is that you have mentioned what’s happening in Scotland and Northern Ireland and so on, and with all the talk of prosecution and legislation, we on these benches are strong believers in the need to devolve these issues in their entirety. It would, therefore, simplify the process; you wouldn’t have this wall between your code and the CPS code. It would be far simpler if policing were devolved to this place as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland and London and Manchester, even. And if the courts and the probation service and the prisons were all devolved to this place, it would make your work in developing this prosecution code far simpler and far more robust. Would you agree that the way forward in terms of working consistently to devolve further legislative powers to this place is to do that? Thank you very much.