4. What action has the Counsel General taken to encourage an improved awareness of the rule of law amongst young adults in Wales? OQ56447

Awareness of the rule of law is integral to our work as a Government and to our efforts to make Welsh law more accessible. A number of initiatives are under way that will be brought together in a formal programme, in accordance with the legislation passed in this Senedd, at the start of the next Senedd term.

Thank you. Of course, you'll be aware that Justice Week 2021 took place from 1 March to 5 March against the context of COVID-19. Justice Week provided an opportunity for a vital health check on our rights, our justice system and, ultimately, on the rule of law. As an article on the Law Society website outlined, children have been affected heavily by coronavirus through school closures, and most young people are never consulted on decisions. The Law Society supports public legal education and highlighted the Big Legal Lesson during Justice Week. This is a classroom resource initiative designed by teachers to introduce children and young people to the rule of law. The resources help familiarise young people with subjects such as why we have laws, what a Bill is and how a law is created. Seven hundred and thirty two schools are now taking part this year. Will you liaise with Kirsty Williams MS to establish what steps can be taken to see all schools in Wales participate in BLL next year?

I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that supplementary, and I was delighted, in the interests of discussing questions about the rule of law with young people, to have participated recently with some students from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in their law and criminology conference, to discuss this very sort of issue. And in the way that she was implying in her question, much of that discussion related to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, in Wales, we have worked with the children's commissioner to seek to ascertain the views of children and young people very specifically about the impact of COVID on their lives in particular. But, as she says, there is always more to do in relation to making sure that pupils in schools get a very good appreciation of the issues in relation to the rule of law, democratic accountability, and so on. I'm very confident that the new curriculum Bill, when it becomes an Act, will facilitate that kind of education, and it's a matter of regret that her party didn't choose to support that.