Publications

Submission: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry on Policing and Security in Northern Ireland

In September 2025, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee launched an inquiry on challenges policing and security in Northern Ireland are facing today.

Summary recommendations/messages

The NIHRC:

2.6 recommends that the NI Affairs Committee explores to what extent changes to EU policing and judicial cooperation mechanisms have affected the ability of the Police Service of NI and An Garda Síochána to share intelligence and coordinate effectively on cross-border policing and security matters.

2.12 recommends that the NI Affairs Committee explores how changes to extradition and evidence sharing arrangements under the UK-EU Trade Cooperation Agreement have impacted victims’ rights to timely justice and defendants’ rights to a fair and prompt trial.

2.13 recommends that the NI Affairs Committee explores the extent to which the all-island approach to policing and justice cooperation has been maintained in practice since Brexit, and what steps are being taken to address any operational or legal gaps that have emerged.

2.14 advises that the highest standards of victims’ rights and rights of accused persons are central to cross-border criminal justice cooperation and recommends that the UK and the EU ensure that information sharing arrangements are sufficient to ensure investigations and proceedings are conducted in an efficient manner, in full compliance with the ECHR and EU Victims’ Directive.

2.15 recommends that in the absence of CJEU oversight of the extradition process, the UK and EU establish clear safeguards within the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement oversight mechanisms to ensure robust human rights safeguards for accused persons and victims of crime.

2.20 recommends that, to facilitate cross-border justice co-operation, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology ensures that data protection standards in the UK, including under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 continue to enable data-sharing between the UK and the EU.

2.21 recommends that the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology ensures that any changes to data protection standards in the UK, including under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, fully take account of the importance of data-sharing for effective North-South co-operation on public services, such as healthcare and justice, and do not result in a lowering of standards which would put at risk the renewal of EU data adequacy decisions regarding the UK.

3.3 recommends that the Common Travel Area and rights associated with it are enshrined in a comprehensive bilateral treaty by the UK Government and Government of Ireland and incorporated into domestic legislation. The NIHRC further recommends that this agreement codifies reciprocal free movement rights and rights to employment, education, health care, justice and security to maintain at least the same level of protection as existed on 31 December 2020.

3.8 continues to recommend that the Home Office ensures that all journeys into NI, originating from Ireland, are exempt from Electronic Travel Authorisation requirements.

3.16 recommends that the Home Office takes effective steps to enforce the prohibition on racial profiling and ensure it does not occur in immigration checks, including at entry to NI at ports and airports and in the context of cross-border travel. This should include the collection and monitoring of appropriate data, including disaggregated ethnic data, of people examined by enforcement officers.

3.17 recommends that the NI Affairs Committee explores how the Home Office ensures the operation of immigration and Electronic Travel Authorisation checks within NI are conducted in compliance with human rights and equality obligations, including measures to prevent racial profiling.

Relevant Documents

Policing and security in Northern Ireland - Written evidence - Committees - UK Parliament