Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 8
Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit
Published 28 Apr 2021
Paragraph 63
Addressed to Northern Ireland Executive; Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The UK’s loss of access to SIS II has the potential to create delays in UK law enforcement agencies receiving arrest warrant notices when the location of the suspect is not known, if partner agencies in EU Member States do not routinely enter arrest warrant notices into the Interpol I-24/7 database. We would hope that, given the UK’s historical role in Interpol and the demonstrable benefits for pan-European safety and security, this would be something that EU Member States would support and encourage. The Government must set out how it plans to mitigate, limit or eliminate delays in receiving arrest warrants and operational information from EU partners following the loss of access to SIS II. The Government and relevant UK law enforcement agencies must also set out how it plans to encourage partner agencies in EU Member States to enter arrest warrants into the Interpol I-24/7 database to mitigate the operational loss of SIS II.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit (HC 766), paragraph 63, 28 April 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 5 July 2021 (deadline 28 June 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government response sets out how the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) arrangements operate and says it will "take steps to address any issues should they arise", while giving a mostly non-committal reply on several recommendations.
- On the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, the government says it was convened on 24 June 2021 in Dublin, and "It was agreed that the next BIIGC should take place in London in November."
- On inviting Northern Ireland Executive representatives to the Specialised Committee, the government says it values their perspective, but "final discretion in any specific instance as regards attendance would be held by the UK co-chair".
- On a review of extradition after two years, the response does not commit to one. It says it will "continue to work closely" with partners to monitor the arrangements and "take steps to address any issues should they arise".
- On a Northern Ireland centre of excellence, the government says it "looks forward to reviewing any proposed plans" from the PSNI, the Department of Justice and other agencies.