4. Statement by the Counsel General: The Legislation (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:45 pm on 4 December 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 5:45, 4 December 2018

(Translated)

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 of law in both Welsh and in English, and that act in itself will therefore be a catalyst for the use of the Welsh language in law. But the question that he emphasised on that very complex point that he referred to, well, it's a centrally important aspect of this: how do you interpret in two languages, when both have the same authority? This is a challenge that isn't unique to Wales, of course. It's also true in Canada, within the European Union, and so on and so forth. So, there are a number of conventions as to how this could work.

In the Law Commission work, there is a full chapter on this topic, if the Member would like to read it. But that's exactly the kind of discussion that I hope to have with the committee as to how we ensure whether more needs to be done than just to accept what is currently in devolution law in this regard—do we need to take further steps? So, I will be interested to discuss that further with the committee. He referred to the importance of resources. Well, clearly, I agree with him on that point. The point in having responsibility through this Bill is to ensure that that accessibility is there for the future and that those resources are available in the long term, which is essential in order to deliver the objectives of the Bill.

In terms of a separate jurisdiction for Wales, well, that is one of the things that the Justice Commission is looking at at the moment. The Member will be aware of the evidence provided by the Welsh Government to that commission. I want to emphasise that the proposals in this Bill are separate to the issue of jurisdiction. I referred to that in my opening remarks, although the fact that you are restating Welsh law is relevant to the broader discussion on that topic, of course.

Then, finally, he mentioned accessibility. Well, accessibility is central to what this Bill has in mind, and the Bill, in a way, is an issue of social justice as well as democratic accountability. I know, having discussions with advice services, for example—those services that provide advice to the public, that is—that they see the accessibility and clarity of law being an asset in the long term for the important work that they do. Ultimately, we will have a task in terms of how we communicate that to the public. But, I do hope, in looking at the draft taxonomy, that that suggests the kind of accessibility that we have in mind in the longer term.