Policing

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has commenced an investigation into the PSNI policies and practice and the obligations imposed on police officers when interacting with vulnerable people. Considered by the Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, to be an area of high risk where failings could lead to in

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined that the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) did not have grounds to reject medical evidence involving injuries at work for two former constables. The court found that the medical evidence determination, not the Board’s, was final.

Prosecutorial powers should be removed from gardaí as part of the landmark bill giving effect to many of the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, the government has been told. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 was debated at second stage

Human rights campaigners have raised concerns about the disproportionate use of stop and search by the PSNI on people from minoritised ethnic communities and on children. Figures published this week show that 21,190 people were stopped and searched in Northern Ireland by police last year.

Ireland's proposed new police ombudsman will not have institutional independence under the government's current legislative plans, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) has warned. The policing watchdog has published a detailed set of observations on the Policing, Security and

An Garda Síochána will pilot the use of body-worn cameras as soon as this year if new legislation is enacted on the government's timetable. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022, which justice minister Simon Harris is introducing to the Dáil today, will

UK police chiefs have apologised for having "profoundly failed" the families of the 96 people unlawfully killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Leaders from the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) today set out their response to an independent report which was commi

The PSNI has been urged by human rights campaigners to end the practice of strip searching children. Members of the NI Policing Board told investigative news and analysis website The Detail that they continue to have concerns despite the force establishing a new "accountability panel" last year.

Northern Ireland’s High Court has found that a failure by police to properly investigate a suspected 1976 murder is potentially a breach of their common law and statutory duty. The court granted judicial review, finding that this question was an important point of public law.

Landmark legislation giving effect to the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) is set to be published with a view to it becoming law next year. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will overhaul the legal framework of accountability, governance a

An extension of the retirement age for members of An Garda Síochána is "being considered" by government, justice minister Helen McEntee has said. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) has called for the current retirement age of 60 to be increased to relieve recruitm

Human rights lawyer Les Allamby has been appointed to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Mr Allamby is a solicitor who has previously served as director of Law Centre NI and chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC).

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an accused who claimed that he was entitled to be interviewed by gardaí during the investigation stage of alleged crimes. It was said that the accused was entitled to have his defence placed on the record while being questioned by gardaí an

A judge in the Circuit Court was incorrect in law in directing a jury to return a verdict of not guilty on a count of endangerment in circumstances where the garda investigation did not include an interview with the accused, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has been ordered to appoint Tara McManus to the position of assistant to the general secretary after finding that she was victimised for raising a complaint of discrimination. Ms McManus, a member of An Garda Síochána since February 2000, lodg