'Devolved Tribunals in Wales Report'

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:53 pm on 12 January 2022.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:53, 12 January 2022

Thank you for the question, and, of course, the Member wrote about this in an article in Nation.Cymru, which I read and I agreed with. I agree with him in, firstly, welcoming the work of the Law Commission in the detailed report that we have, which is under serious consideration and with a view to looking at the legislative programme. Also, I think we would all recognise the important work that Sir Wyn Williams has done in respect of the tribunals. The Member is right that the tribunals have come to us in a sort of ad hoc way. Some we have created, some we have inherited, some that have changed, and now is absolutely the right time for these tribunals to come together in a single tier, as is recommended. That is my view. What is equally important, though, is that one of the recommendations or options that's put there is of course the creation of an appellate structure, and it certainly is my thinking that that appellate structure is something that we would want to create and also probably to have the president of tribunals as, effectively, an appeal court judge.

This is a broader issue I was also discussing on my visit to Scotland, where, of course, courts and tribunals have a different framework but some similar issues, and I would hope that this actually becomes what is the embryonic base of the Welsh justice system and that you can also look eventually—. I mean, I don't want to run before we can walk on this—there's still quite a long way to go—but, of course, there are other tribunals that are not devolved, but something not being devolved doesn't mean it can't fit within a tribunal system, and that was an interesting commentary that I had from my visit to Scotland. So, this is a fundamentally important step forward for Wales. Our experience in terms of the way the tribunals have been operating, particularly during COVID, has been, I think, very effective. And I think the proposals that have come forward will put our part of the justice system that we have on a sound footing, independent of Government, able to act as an embryonic Welsh justice system, and with, for the first time, our own appeals structure.