Policing

In an open letter first published by The Irish Times and included below in full, experts from seven universities and 13 NGOs in Ireland oppose the government's plans to use facial recognition technology for policing. The Minister for Justice plans to expand Garda surveillance powers with policing fa

The High Court has determined that members of An Garda Síochána only have a right of audience before the District Court where they have initiated and conducted the prosecution of the accused. Accordingly, the court held that non-prosecuting gardaí do not have a right of audience

A significant High Court ruling has effectively brought an end to the practice of gardaí presenting criminal cases to the District Court on behalf of their colleagues. Until now, gardaí have regularly appeared in court to present cases in which they have no involvement on behalf of the

Legislation underpinning the retention of data by gardaí will be amended following a successful EU court challenge brought by convicted murderer Graham Dwyer, the government has announced. In April, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that the "general

Gardaí should be required by law to record race and ethnicity data during a stop and search, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended. The rights watchdog has also called for stronger wording to prohibit racial profiling, as well as detailed guidelines developed in consu

The PSNI is facing legal action after a data breach reportedly saw the personal information of 152 people shared with police in the United States. The force said it had referred itself to the Police Ombudsman and informed the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in relation to the breach, the Bel

Volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be armed with Tasers under controversial UK government plans. In a speech to the Police Federation annual conference, home secretary Priti Patel said special constables would be authorised to carry the electric stun guns in response to calls from p

The High Court has determined that a garda inspector was entitled to have his promotion backdated after it was delayed due to a false complaint by a member of the public. The investigation of the complaint delayed the promotion by seven months, during which time the garda did not receive the higher

The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of a journalist who had his mobile phone seized by gardaí with a view to obtaining information relating to a serious criminal incident. The journalist had refused to give the phone to gardaí on the basis of journalistic privilege. The court deter

The government has been urged to clarify whether proposed legislation on digital recording by gardaí explicitly covers facial recognition and other emerging technologies. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said the human rights and equality implications of these technologies need

An unprecedented international effort to disrupt the finances of the Kinahan crime gang has been launched by Irish, UK and US law enforcement agencies. The US government has announced the designation of what it calls the Kinahan organised crime group (KOCG) as a "significant transnational criminal o

The High Court has ruled that the Commissioner for An Garda Síochána acted unlawfully when he decided to dismiss a member after a statutory Appeal Board had determined that dismissal was disproportionate. The Commissioner sought to dismiss the member for discreditable conduct arising f

An Garda Síochána should take action to better safeguard the right of people in custody to consult a solicitor in private, the Garda Inspectorate has said. A new report published today sets out a number of recommendations following a comprehensive examination of the standard of treatme

Stop and search powers are being disproportionately used in Northern Ireland against people from ethnic minority communities and on children, new figures reveal. A total of 25,503 people were stopped and searched by PSNI officers in 2021, according to the latest statistics, with just six per cent of

Drew Harris will remain in post as Garda Commissioner until June 2025, the government has announced. Mr Harris was appointed to the top role in An Garda Síochána for a five-year term beginning in September 2018, following a long career in the PSNI.