Welsh Government
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Absence of a Welsh Supreme Court Judge “unacceptable” – Counsel General for Wales
Speaking at the Society of Legal Scholars at Cardiff Law School last night (Thursday 15 November), Mr Huckle said:
“Wales is the only part of the UK, with its own legislature, not formally represented in membership of the Supreme Court. That position should not be allowed to continue, regardless of whether we move to a separate legal jurisdiction for Wales.
“We are currently awaiting the judgment of the Supreme Court case on the Local Government Byelaws Bill. That case was heard in the Supreme Court without the benefit of a Welsh judge on the bench; we do not find this acceptable.
“I was repeatedly called upon to take the Court through the development of Welsh devolution in some detail."
The Counsel General also repeated his call for the maintenance of Welsh representation within the membership of the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Mr Huckle said:
“My representations to that effect to the Ministry of Justice - which proposes to permit such representation but not to require it as part of the statutes of the Commission - have thus far fallen on deaf ears.
“We will continue to make that case vigorously. We see that change as a remarkably retrograde step.”
