Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit
Published 28 Apr 2021
Paragraph 94
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 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.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit (HC 766), paragraph 94, 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.