The Devolution of Youth Justice

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 7 December 2022.

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Photo of Sarah Murphy Sarah Murphy Labour 2:55, 7 December 2022

Counsel General, thank you for your update on this. I recently met with Professor Kevin Haines and Professor Jonathan Wynne Evans, two pioneering experts for youth justice, who talked to me about how, in Wales, our approach is children first and offenders second, and they actually called this way back in 2013 the 'dragonisation' of youth justice. And this is all about making sure that the child is first and then the offence is focused on second. Evidence shows that promoting the welfare of children and young people reduces the risk of offending and reoffending, and doing so protects the public as well. So, it's incredibly timely to see that the devolution of justice was one of the recommendations of the recent Gordon Brown report. I'm aware that this is a matter that the Counsel General is also in discussions with UK Government on, and could we have an update on those discussions and their significance for the devolution of youth justice and probation to Wales, please?