English: As the president of Welsh Tribunals states, a substantial part of his report focuses upon how the Welsh tribunals have dealt with the disruption brought about by coronavirus. As the report states, tribunal members and the staff of the Welsh Tribunals unit deserve a great deal of credit for their determination to ensure that the work of the Welsh tribunals has run as smoothly as possible. The report refers to the Law Commission project on Welsh tribunals and to the provisional recommendation in the commission's consultation paper that the Welsh Tribunals unit should become a non-ministerial department. As the report states, the reasoning for supporting this recommendation is compelling and such a development would be of substantial benefit. Speaking here in September, I asked the Counsel General for his response to this and other proposals in the consultation paper, including to standardise the processes for appointing and dismissing members of the tribunals, to standardise procedural rules across the tribunals, to replace the existing separate tribunals with a single unified first-tier tribunal, and to bring the Valuation Tribunal for Wales and school exclusion appeals panels within the unified new first-tier tribunal. In his response, the Counsel General told me that he looked forward to receiving the commission's recommendations. It would be helpful if he could now clarify his position, if these recommendations are maintained in the Law Commission's final report. I welcome the president of Welsh Tribunals' membership of various UK bodies, which ensures, he says, that he is well placed to keep abreast of all important developments in the tribunals that exist in all four countries of the UK. Referring to the Commission on Justice in Wales, this report states that the recommendation that courts and tribunals that determine disputes in both civil and administrative law should be under one unified system in Wales can be achieved only if there is substantial devolution of the justice function to Wales. However, devolution of justice powers would risk exacerbating the jagged edge of how devolved and non-devolved powers intersect and could cost up to £100 million a year. Further, as the Law Society states, a jurisdictional solution to accommodate Welsh law needs to be developed without creating barriers for the operation of justice or the ability of practitioners to work across Wales and England Finally, the report refers to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales, SENTW, referring to the clear need to ensure that the education of vulnerable children is not compromised, and to the transition from SENTW to the new education tribunal. In this context, it is of extreme concern to the families I have represented that neither SENTW nor its successor body can take any further enforcement action when the relevant bodies fail to carry out their orders.
Welsh: Fel y dywed llywydd Tribiwnlysoedd Cymru, mae rhan sylweddol o'i adroddiad yn canolbwyntio ar sut y mae tribiwnlysoedd Cymru wedi ymdrin â'r tarfu y mae'r coronafeirws wedi ei achosi. Fel y dywed yr adroddiad, mae aelodau'r tribiwnlys a staff uned Tribiwnlysoedd Cymru yn haeddu llawer o glod am eu penderfyniad i sicrhau bod gwaith tribiwnlysoedd Cymru wedi rhedeg mor ddidrafferth â phosibl. Mae'r adroddiad yn cyfeirio at brosiect Comisiwn y Gyfraith ar dribiwnlysoedd Cymru ac at yr argymhelliad dros dro ym mhapur ymgynghori'r comisiwn y dylai uned Tribiwnlysoedd Cymru ddod yn adran anweinidogol. Fel y dywed yr adroddiad, mae'r rhesymeg dros gefnogi'r argymhelliad hwn yn gymhellol a byddai datblygiad o'r fath o fudd sylweddol. Wrth siarad yma ym mis Medi, gofynnais i'r Cwnsler Cyffredinol am ei ymateb i hyn a chynigion eraill yn y papur ymgynghori, gan gynnwys safoni'r prosesau ar gyfer penodi a diswyddo aelodau'r tribiwnlysoedd, safoni rheolau gweithdrefnol ar draws y tribiwnlysoedd, disodli'r tribiwnlysoedd ar wahân presennol gydag un tribiwnlys haen gyntaf unedig, a dod â Thribiwnlys Prisio Cymru a phaneli apeliadau gwahardd o ysgolion o fewn y tribiwnlys haen gyntaf newydd unedig. Yn ei ymateb, dywedodd y Cwnsler Cyffredinol wrthyf ei fod yn edrych ymlaen at gael argymhellion y comisiwn. Byddai'n ddefnyddiol pe gallai egluro ei safbwynt yn awr, os yw'r argymhellion hyn yn cael eu cynnal yn adroddiad terfynol Comisiwn y Gyfraith. Rwy'n croesawu aelodaeth llywydd Tribiwnlysoedd Cymru o wahanol gyrff yn y DU, sy'n sicrhau, meddai, ei fod mewn sefyllfa dda i gael yr wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am yr holl ddatblygiadau pwysig yn y tribiwnlysoedd sy'n bodoli ym mhob un o bedair gwlad y DU. Gan gyfeirio at y Comisiwn ar Gyfiawnder yng Nghymru, mae'r adroddiad hwn yn nodi mai dim ond os oes datganoli sylweddol o'r swyddogaeth gyfiawnder i Gymru y gellir cyflawni'r argymhelliad y dylai llysoedd a thribiwnlysoedd sy'n datrys anghydfodau mewn cyfraith sifil a gweinyddol fod o dan un system unedig yng Nghymru. Fodd bynnag, drwy ddatganoli pwerau cyfiawnder mae perygl y gallai waethygu'r ffordd y mae pwerau datganoledig a phwerau nad ydyn nhw wedi eu datganoli yn croestorri ac y gallai arwain at gost o hyd at £100 miliwn y flwyddyn. At hynny, fel y dywed Cymdeithas y Gyfraith, mae angen datblygu ateb awdurdodaethol i ddarparu ar gyfer cyfraith Cymru heb greu rhwystrau rhag gweithredu cyfiawnder a gallu ymarferwyr i weithio ledled Cymru a Lloegr. Yn olaf, mae'r adroddiad yn cyfeirio at Dribiwnlys Anghenion Addysgol Arbennig Cymru, TAAAC, gan gyfeirio at yr angen clir i sicrhau nad oes amharu ar addysg plant sy'n agored i niwed, ac at y trosglwyddo o TAAAC i'r tribiwnlys addysg newydd. Yn y cyd-destun hwn, mae'n peri pryder mawr iawn i'r teuluoedd yr wyf i wedi eu cynrychioli na all TAAAC na'i gorff olynol gymryd unrhyw gamau gorfodi pellach pan fydd y cyrff perthnasol yn methu â chyflawni eu gorchmynion.