Wales legal chief ‘unequivocal’ that separation is off the agenda

Any prospect of a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction has been kicked firmly into touch, with the country’s top lawyer confirming it is not an option for the foreseeable future.

Speaking at the Legal Wales conference in Bangor last week, counsel general Julie James MS said the Welsh government is a ‘long way’ from complete separation from England.

The Senedd in Cardiff has consulted on the question of a separate jurisdiction and in 2019 published a report outlining that it would provide a solution to dealing with the divergence in law since devolution.

But ahead of Senedd elections next year, James made clear that any such change is definitely not on the immediate agenda. ‘The fact is that law differs when you cross from Cheshire into Denbighshire or you go over the Severn Bridge. But there should be no threat in that,’ she said. ‘We are unequivocal that at least for the foreseeable future there should continue to be a single England and Wales solicitors’ profession, a single qualification and a single regulator. The same applies to barristers and other types of legal professional. No Welsh government is going to be advocating for blocking Welsh lawyers from English markets.’

James also confirmed there will not be time before the election next May to push through a bill for a reformed tribunal system and framework.

A white paper from 2023 found the tribunal system in Wales to be ‘outdated, inflexible and [lacking] coherence’, advocating for a unified system to absorb the jurisdictions of existing devolved tribunals. The proposal was for a single first-tier tribunal for Wales divided into chambers and an appeal tribunal for Wales.

The counsel general said her department would continue to work on the package of reforms and would produce a draft bill which will be ready for the new Welsh government to take forward.