Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 7 February 2018.
Yes, we have actually contacted them. I can’t make any comments on individual cases, of course. I’m sure the Member will accept that. We welcome the review. We have to ensure that all the regulations are followed. One of the challenges is keeping abreast of the use of technology and training in the courts, and the growth in the use of social media specifically does mean that that is now beyond anything that was imagined when those regulations and techniques were first introduced. This is not a new problem; this is not a problem that is specific just to social media. This has been a factor for decades in all sorts of prosecutions. So, I do welcome the review in both Wales and England, but this review is only an interim phase. We have to have a legal system and a criminal system that is fit for the age in which we live in terms of the people’s use of technology and information, and we have to futureproof it too.
I would like to say specifically that many of the cases have been in the context of rape cases, as the Member mentioned. It’s very important that people should continue to come forward with their complaints on that. I accept what the Member has said about having faith and confidence in the system. The figures on rape cases in Wales have been increasing. We have to be very careful with those numbers, of course, for the obvious statistical reasons, but the fact that people are willing to come forward with their complaints is to be welcomed in terms of people's willingness to bring these cases to the authorities.