The Civil Procedure Rules Committee closed its consultation regarding proposed amendments as to the provision concerning the Welsh language on 30 January 2026. The consultation for the most part has concerned the equal footing of the Welsh language and the need for Welsh speaking judges to be the arbiters of its meaning. A legitimate point, that in due course will be considered by many. However, as one of a small number of barristers who have conducted hearings and trials in Welsh in South Wales, my view on the most pressing issue facing the language’s use in court is just that, the language that we use in court.

‘In my submission’, ‘may it please the court’, ‘my learned friend’, and ‘it is a matter for the exercise of your judicial discretion’ are the most common examples I could think of how advocates in court say things that add a level of unnecessary pomp and confusion to what we are trying to say. These are phrases that, to most people, don’t necessarily mean anything, and we as barristers have come to use them as a creative way of saying ‘um’, ‘I don’t know’, ‘my opponent’ and ‘it’s up to you, Judge’.

It is commonplace for barristers to articulate their argument in a Sir Humphrey Appleby-esque charming, eloquent, yet completely incomprehensible manner. I imagine it is a relic of academia’s fascination with floral language, the same fascination that that led me as a history student at Durham University to write essays about the Tokugawa Shogunate in impenetrable prose. Perhaps in English language courts, this does not cause too many problems, even if they add nothing. However, I have found that the use of such phrases causes problems with the use of Welsh in court, and to be clear the issue lies with Court language and the advocates, rather than the Welsh language.

It is not a new problem by any means. Lord Lloyd Jones delivered a speech at the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol during the pandemic, whereby he gave examples of witnesses not understanding the Welsh being used because it was ‘too posh’. Another example he gave was a defendant interrupting the magistrates who had granted him bail and used the formal term mechniaeth: ‘I don’t want bloody mechniaeth, I want bloody bail.’ In isolation, the latter may be laughed away as an amusing anecdote to tell at a Bar mess; however, that dismisses the problem. The purpose of the use of Welsh in those circumstances would be for the defendant to better understand the proceedings.

The whole purpose of the use of Welsh in most cases is that parties are more comfortable expressing their opinions, and will understand the case better, if done in Welsh. As such, as advocates practising in Welsh need to avoid falling into the trap of English language advocacy translated into Welsh. I myself am not a first language Welsh speaker, I grew up with English speaking parents and went to a Welsh language school. That is not to say I am not fluent. I undertook all my education in Welsh and sat all my exams in Welsh. That being said, I sometimes find myself (rapidly if I say so myself) translating what I want to say in English into Welsh, which for the most part is not an issue; however, it becomes an issue when you try to translate nonsense phrases that have become part of accepted court vernacular in English into Welsh. If they mean very little in English, they mean less than that once translated.

This, in fact, misses the whole point. Welsh language advocacy does not exist for the purposes of translating English advocacy. However, when we do that, it means the hearing no longer serves the purpose that having a hearing in Welsh is supposed to do. We are supposed to be providing a forum for disputes to be resolved in a language that is comfortable and natural to its user. Moreover, the equal footing of the Welsh language means more than anything that it is not merely a translation of the English.

We have an opportunity, or even a duty, in Wales to develop Welsh language advocacy that does not lazily seek to mimic traditional English language court vernacular, but to develop our own means of expression, that is in-keeping with turns of phrase already prevalent in the language but also avoids unessential and confusion-inducing phrases that we currently use in English.

I invite my fellow Welsh language practitioners to focus upon the purpose of courtroom advocacy: clarity of expression and persuasive argument. 

 

Eiriolaeth Trwy’r Gymraeg
Mae’r obsesiwn ar uno a chysoni iaith gyfreithiol Gymraeg ag iaith Saesneg yn colli’r pwynt, meddai Lewis Harrison
Caeodd Pwyllgor Rheolau Trefniadaeth Sifil ei ymgynghoriad ar newidiadau i’r darpariaeth sy’n ymwneud â’r Gymraeg ar 30 Ionawr 2026. Roedd yr ymgynghoriad yn canolbwyntio i raddau helaeth ar statws cyfartal y Gymraeg a’r angen i feirniaid sy’n siarad Cymraeg fod yn dyfarnwyr ar ei hystyr. Mae hwn yn bwynt dilys, ac fe fydd yn cael ei ystyried ymhellach yn y dyfodol. Fodd bynnag, fel un o nifer fach o fargyfreithwyr sydd wedi cynnal gwrandawiadau a threialon yn Gymraeg yn Ne Cymru, y mater mwyaf cymwys yn fy marn i yw’r hyn sydd wrth wraidd y broblem: yr iaith a ddefnyddiwn yn y llys. 
Mae ymadroddion fel ‘yn fy nghyflwyniad i’, ‘os gwêl y llys yn dda’, ‘fy nghyfaill dysgedig’, ac ‘mae’n fater i’ch disgresiwn barnwrol chi’ yn enghreifftiau cyffredin o ffordd o siarad sy’n ychwanegu haen o dryswch diangen. I’r rhan fwyaf o bobl, nid yw’r ymadroddion hyn yn glir o gwbl, ac maent weithiau’n cael eu defnyddio fel ffordd o guddio ansicrwydd neu o osgoi dweud yn syml: ‘uhm’, ‘dydw i ddim yn gwybod’, ‘fy nghystadleuydd’, neu ‘chi sy’n penderfynu, farnwr’. 
Mae’n gyffredin i fargyfreithwyr gyflwyno dadleuon mewn modd swynol, ond sydd yn y pen draw yn anodd ei ddeall. Efallai fod hyn yn deillio o draddodiad academaidd sy’n ffafrio iaith gymhleth ac addurnedig. Yn Saesneg, efallai nad yw hyn yn peri gormod o drafferth – er nad yw’n ychwanegu llawer – ond yn y Gymraeg, rwyf wedi gweld ei fod yn creu anawsterau go iawn. Mae’n bwysig pwysleisio mai problem sy’n ymwneud ag iaith y llys a’r defnydd ohoni yw hon, nid problem gyda’r Gymraeg ei hun. 
Nid yw hon yn broblem newydd. Yn ystod y pandemig, rhoddodd yr Arglwydd Lloyd Jones araith yn y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol lle nododd enghreifftiau o dystion nad oeddent yn deall y Gymraeg a ddefnyddid gan ei bod yn ‘rhy ffurfiol’. Soniodd hefyd am achos lle ymyrrodd diffynnydd ar ôl i’r ynadon ei ryddhau ar fechnïaeth, gan ddweud: ‘Dydw i ddim eisiau mechnïaeth – dwi’sho bail!’ Er y gall hyn ymddangos yn ddoniol, mae’n tynnu sylw at broblem ddifrifol: dylai defnyddio’r Gymraeg yn y llys helpu’r partïon i ddeall y broses, nid ei gwneud yn fwy aneglur. 
Y prif reswm dros ddefnyddio’r Gymraeg yn y rhan fwyaf o achosion yw bod pobl yn gallu mynegi eu hunain yn fwy naturiol a gyda gwell dealltwriaeth. Felly, rhaid i ni fel eiriolwyr Cymraeg osgoi’r demtasiwn o gyfieithu dull Saesneg o eiriolaeth yn uniongyrchol i’r Gymraeg. Nid Cymraeg yw fy iaith gyntaf; cefais fy magu mewn teulu iaith Saesneg ac es i ysgol Gymraeg. O ganlyniad, rwy’n aml yn cyfieithu’n gyflym o’r Saesneg i’r Gymraeg. Fel arfer, nid yw hyn yn broblem, ond daw’n broblem pan fo ymadroddion Saesneg diystyr yn cael eu trosglwyddo i’r Gymraeg. Os nad ydynt yn dweud llawer yn Saesneg, maent yn dweud hyd yn oed llai yn y Gymraeg. 
Yn wir, mae hyn yn colli’r pwynt yn llwyr. Nid yw eiriolaeth Gymraeg yn bodoli er mwyn efelychu neu gyfieithu eiriolaeth Saesneg. Diben y Gymraeg yn y llys yw darparu fforwm lle gall pobl ddefnyddio iaith sy’n naturiol ac yn gyfforddus iddynt. Mae statws cyfartal y Gymraeg yn golygu mwy na bod yn gyfieithiad o’r Saesneg yn unig. 
Mae gennym gyfle – neu hyd yn oed ddyletswydd – yng Nghymru i ddatblygu ffurf ar eiriolaeth Gymraeg sy’n osgoi efelychu’n ddifeddwl arferion Saesneg, ac yn hytrach dylwn meithrin dull mynegiant sy’n cyd-fynd â natur y Gymraeg ei hun. Dylai hynny gynnwys osgoi ymadroddion diangen sy’n creu dryswch, a mabwysiadu Cymraegclir, naturiol a dealladwy. 
Rwy’n annog pawb i ganolbwyntio ar wir bwrpas eiriolaeth yn y llys: eglurder mynegiant a chryfder dadl.
References

Lord Lloyd-Jones speech at the biennial Law Conference of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (National Welsh Language College) hosted by Cardiff University on 4 March 2021

Consultation by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) proposed amendments as to provisions concerning the Welsh language ran from October 2025-January 2026