Justice book “highlights the dysfunction in our system” – Welsh Minister

The new book from Robert Jones and Richard Wyn Jones, The Welsh Criminal Justice System: On the Jagged Edge, was praised by Senedd Members during this week’s Questions to the Counsel General.

The Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution, Mick Antoniw, highlighted the book during discussions on the devolution of policing, noting that:

“(The book) really begins to highlight the dysfunction in our justice system: the fact that we have no proper alignment between all the devolved functions and a very centralised Ministry of Justice, where Wales only plays a very peripheral part.”

Plaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd argued that:

“It really outlines how the Welsh criminal justice system is unique, and, while our nation has its own devolved Government and Parliament, of course, there is no Welsh equivalent of the Scottish or Northern Irish justice systems. Rather, the writ of England and Wales criminal justice institutions continues to run. Yet the extensive responsibilities of Wales's devolved institutions ensure that they necessarily play a significant role in criminal justice, and, as a result, the Welsh criminal justice system operates across this jagged edge of devolved and reserved powers and responsibilities.”

Mick Antoniw MS further noted that “the content of the publication from Cardiff University contains some really significant information within it”, pointing to the need for disaggregated criminological data to be made available for Wales.