Report comment

Please fill in the form to report an unsuitable comment. Please state which comment is of concern and why. It will be sent to our moderator for review.

Comment

Isn't an exam set in the Welsh language going to be, at best, a hybrid exercise, where it is just the questions that are in Welsh (and possibly parts of the answers)? The primary and secondary legislation of England and Wales is framed in English, apart from those bits that deal with Welsh matters (whether or not promulgated by the Welsh Assembly) where there are dual language versions. And all the relevant case law that I know is reported in English. So the requirement of the exam is surely to test the candidates knowledge of law that is primarily couched in English and demonstrate an ability to interpret and apply that law in practice. How is someone who insists that the questions be provided in Welsh and that they be allowed to answer in Welsh going to fare in the exam? I don't say the task is impossible and I suppose Welsh speaking lawyers will say that they have to juggle with switching between English and Welsh, or translating legislation and case law decisions on the hoof, when explaining the law to a Welsh speaking client, but I can't help feeling they will be creating a rod for their own backs if they insist on taking on the same challenge in an exam. And since Welsh lawyers must be able to speak English, even if they also speak Welsh (not all will) then it would seem not to be a hardship to any candidate for the exam to be entirely in English (thus saving the legal profession the cost of having to translate the questions into Welsh for the benefit of possibly very few candidates in practice).

Your details

Cancel