Source · Select Committees · Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Paragraph: 94
The establishment of UK-CRIS to replace the UK’s participation in the European Criminal Records Information...
Recommendation
The establishment of UK-CRIS to replace the UK’s participation in the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) is welcome. Effective policing of the open border on the island of Ireland is assisted by efficient and reliable assessment of criminal records. The 20-day time limit included in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement is an improvement on the 1959 Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters which the UK and EU would have had to rely upon if no agreement on security had been reached. However, it is not as strict as the 10- day time limit that is in place under ECRIS. The Government must work with the Irish Government to ensure that criminal record data requested for the purposes of criminal proceedings continues to be exchanged as quickly as possible between UK 46 Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit and Irish law enforcement agencies, aiming for the shorter time limits as set out when using ECRIS rather than the 20-day time limit set out in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement; and reporting on its performance against those limits.
Paragraph Reference:
94
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The TCA allows the UK to continue fast and effective exchange of criminal records information with the EU. Criminal Records can be exchanged for law enforcement purposes, including to assist criminal proceedings and for public protection. The TCA provides for access to shared technical infrastructure that allows the UK to continue to exchange data through a secure electronic transfer mechanism, meaning we continue to use the same forms and processes that were in place as before the end of the Transition Period. That mechanism operates exactly as it did before the end of the Transition Period. As the Committee’s report notes, the 20-day deadline for responding to criminal records requests is a limit not a target.