English: Thank you. I'm grateful for the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Assembly Commission to this detailed and informative report from the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee. I want to outline why we're having this debate today. When the Commission and I were considering how to exercise the new powers provided under the Wales Act 2017 to make changes to the Assembly's electoral franchise, one of the issues that came to my attention early on was the rights of prisoners to vote. The European Court of Human Rights has found in previous rulings that the United Kingdom is in breach of the European convention on human rights by banning prisoners generally from voting. As Llywydd, I feel it is my duty to ensure that the Assembly's electoral franchise is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore, the voting rights of prisoners became one of the top issues to consider in the context of changing the Assembly's electoral franchise. Members will be aware that the UK Government has made administrative arrangements that will allow a limited number of prisoners to vote. The Council of Europe has endorsed the UK Government's approach, but it's not yet known whether these arrangements are adequate in the view of the European court. For the Assembly, the main requirement of the European court ruling is that considered decisions are made about the rights of prisoners to vote in elections to legislatures. The Assembly Commission sought the views of the public on this issue in 2018 as part of our consultation on 'Creating a Parliament for Wales'. Our consultation highlighted the legal, ethical and practical complexities of giving prisoners the vote, and we therefore agreed that the matter needed to be considered in detail on a cross-party basis, in order to enable the Assembly as a legislature to give its views on this sensitive policy area before submitting any legislative proposals. Therefore, in September 2018, I wrote to the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and asked them to consider this issue further, and we can see the work that has been delivered and the report before us today. The Assembly Commission considered the committee's report and recommendations carefully and the main recommendation in the committee's report was that the Welsh Government and the Assembly Commission should legislate to give the vote to prisoners serving sentences of less than four years. I'm aware that the Counsel General has recently written to the committee outlining the Welsh Government's commitment to the principle of allowing prisoners the right to vote in every devolved election in Wales -
Welsh: Diolch. Dwi'n ddiolchgar am y cyfle i ymateb ar ran Comisiwn y Cynulliad i'r adroddiad manwl yma gan y Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb, Llywodraeth Leol a Chymunedau. Dwi eisiau amlinellu yn gyntaf pam ein bod ni'n cael y ddadl yma heddiw. Pan oeddwn i a'r Comisiwn yn ystyried sut i arfer y pwerau newydd a ddarparwyd yn Neddf Cymru 2017 i wneud newidiadau i etholfraint y Cynulliad, un o'r materion a ddaeth i'm sylw yn gynnar oedd hawliau carcharorion i bleidleisio. Roedd Llys Hawliau Dynol Ewrop wedi canfod mewn dyfarniadau olynol fod y Deyrnas Unedig yn torri'r confensiwn Ewropeaidd ar hawliau dynol drwy wahardd carcharorion yn gyffredinol rhag pleidleisio. Mae dyletswydd felly i sicrhau bod etholfraint y Cynulliad yn gydnaws â'r confensiwn Ewropeaidd ar hawliau dynol. Felly, daeth hawliau pleidleisio carcharorion yn un o'r materion blaenaf i'w hystyried yng nghyd-destun newid etholfraint y Cynulliad. Bydd Aelodau'n ymwybodol bod Llywodraeth y DU wedi gwneud trefniadau gweinyddol a fydd yn galluogi nifer cyfyngedig o garcharorion i bleidleisio. Mae Cyngor Ewrop wedi cymeradwyo dull Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig, ond nid ydym yn gwybod eto a yw'r trefniadau hyn yn ddigonol ym marn llys Ewrop. O ran y Cynulliad, prif ofyniad dyfarniad llys Ewrop yw bod penderfyniadau ystyriol yn cael eu gwneud ynglŷn â hawliau carcharorion i bleidleisio mewn etholiadau i ddeddfwrfeydd. Gofynnodd Comisiwn y Cynulliad am farn y cyhoedd ar y mater yma yn 2018, fel rhan o'n hymgynghoriad ni ar 'Creu Senedd i Gymru'. Fe wnaeth yr ymgynghoriad hynny amlygu'r cymhlethdodau cyfreithiol, moesegol ac ymarferol sydd ynghlwm wrth roi'r bleidlais i garcharorion. Felly, gwnaethom gytuno fel Comisiwn fod angen parhau i ystyried y mater yma'n fanwl, ar sail drawsbleidiol, er mwyn galluogi'r Cynulliad fel deddfwrfa i roi ei farn ar y maes polisi yma cyn cyflwyno unrhyw gynigion deddfwriaethol. Felly, ym mis Medi 2018, ysgrifennais i at y Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb, Llywodraeth Leol a Chymunedau a gofyn iddynt i ystyried y mater hwn ymhellach. Gweler y gwaith sydd nawr wedi ei gyflawni a'r adroddiad sydd ger ein bron ni heddiw. Ystyriodd Comisiwn y Cynulliad adroddiad ac argymhellion y pwyllgor yn ofalus. Prif argymhelliad y pwyllgor yn ei adroddiad oedd y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru a Chomisiwn y Cynulliad ddeddfu i roi'r bleidlais i garcharorion sy'n bwrw dedfrydau o lai na phedair blynedd. Rwy'n ymwybodol bod y Cwnsler Cyffredinol wedi ysgrifennu at y pwyllgor yn ddiweddar yn amlinellu ymrwymiad Llywodraeth Cymru i'r egwyddor o roi'r hawl i garcharorion bleidleisio ym mhob etholiad datganoledig yng Nghymru -