Proposed Welsh justice system

Currently, the following matters are reserved to the UK parliament, meaning they cannot be amended by an Act of the Welsh Senedd: (a) courts; (b) judges; (c) civil or criminal proceedings; (d) pardons for crimes; (e) private international law; (f) judicial review of administrative action as well as policing.

Dr Robert Jones said, "Gradually, a detailed picture is emerging of the justice system in Wales and how it is quite different to that of England.

Plaid Cymru leader in Westminster, Liz Saville Roberts said "Wales being at the top of this league table is a source of great shame.

Early intervention and prevention are key – considering how we can divert people away from crime in the first place in a holistic and rehabilitative way is essential to Wales' future outlook.

"[5] In October 2022, Dr Robert Jones upon the publication of his book The Welsh Criminal Justice System, said: "On many key measures we uncover that the Welsh criminal justice system performs even worse than that of England, a country with a well-deserved reputation as among the worst performers in western Europe.

"[6] In February 2023, a new report showed that women prisoners from south Wales are forced to carry out their sentences in England and are living in poor conditions.

In 2018, Jeremy Miles, who was Council General for Wales and Member of Senedd, called for the devolution of justice to help prevent crime.

[13] In May 2022 the Welsh Government produced a document titled "Delivering justice for Wales", written by Mick Antoniw and Jane Hutt.

[18][19] Wyn Jones added, “The Welsh criminal justice system remains stranded in a kind of constitutional limbo or no-man's-land: neither quite Westminster's nor Cardiff Bay's.

As a result, this is a policy area in which the writs of both levels of government are constrained not only by problems inherent to criminal justice, but as a direct consequence of a unique and overly complex set of constitutional arrangements.

They also cited the rollout of Wales-specific policing during the covid pandemic, and the comments of the former Lord Chancellor,[specify] who said "you do seem to be better at doing things together in Wales".