Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:33 pm on 24 May 2022.
Mick Antoniw
Labour
4:33,
24 May 2022
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. A fair and effective justice system and the rule of law are the cornerstones of our parliamentary democracy. As politicians, we make Laws, but the adjudication of those laws must always be independent of politics. Today, I want to make a statement about how best we think we can best achieve that fair, effective, independent justice system, and social justice is at the heart of that. Although much of the work of operating the justice system is reserved, devolved agencies have crucial parts to play in its delivery. It is a public service like any other, but it's one that has to work hand in hand with education, health, social services, housing and others. Fair and effective delivery is dependent on the quality and consistency of the collaboration and long-term planning of all of these services.
As chair of the Cabinet sub-committee on justice, I see how much work goes into trying to achieve this. We owe a debt of gratitude to our police and those who work in our courts, our prisons and our probation services, as well as in our legal profession, the judiciary, the justice trade unions and many more besides.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Laws are the rules by which a country is governed. Britain has a long history of law making and the laws of this country can be divided into three types:- 1) Statute Laws are the laws that have been made by Parliament. 2) Case Law is law that has been established from cases tried in the courts - the laws arise from test cases. The result of the test case creates a precedent on which future cases are judged. 3) Common Law is a part of English Law, which has not come from Parliament. It consists of rules of law which have developed from customs or judgements made in courts over hundreds of years. For example until 1861 Parliament had never passed a law saying that murder was an offence. From the earliest times courts had judged that murder was a crime so there was no need to make a law.
