Policing

The High Court has granted an order for full costs despite the applicants only being partially successful in their judicial review proceedings. The court considered the case to be one of “general public importance”, raising significant issues regarding journalistic privilege and freedom

A female prisoner in Northern Ireland has tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has said. The positive test at Hydebank Wood College comes around four months after the first positive test of a prisoner in Northern Ireland in Maghaberry last September.

A damning report from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on the treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters will be raised in ongoing litigation, a human rights firm has said. Belfast-based Phoenix Law, which represents a number of those fined for participating in BLM protests in Belfast and D

The PSNI's different treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters and loyalist counter-protesters was unfair but not motivated by racism, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has said. The watchdog has published a 90-page report into the policing of Black Lives Matter protests in Belfast and Derr

Gardaí will now issue cautions to adults caught with small amounts of cannabis and cannabis resin in a significant expansion of the adult cautioning scheme introduced nearly 15 years ago. The scheme provides "an alternative to the prosecution of certain persons against whom there is evidence

Ireland is set to join a major EU law enforcement system next March in a "game-changer" for Garda investigations of cross-border crime. The European Council has approved Ireland's connection to the Schengen Information System (SIS II), the largest and most widely used IT system for public security i

An Garda Síochána made progress last year on the implementation of the policing reform plan, according to its latest annual report. The force's 2019 annual report highlights the commencement of the rolling out of A Policing Service for our Future, the government's implementation plan f

The PSNI has made "considerable progress" in improving how business crime is dealt with in Northern Ireland, the criminal justice watchdog has found. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) has published a follow-up review which found that fix of six recommendations made in 2017 had bee

A number of properties in Northern Ireland have been seized by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers, working as part of the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF), following a High Court order.

Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly will face no further action following complaints that an "offensive" tweet breached the NI Policing Board's code of conduct. The Board received multiple complaints about a tweet Mr Kelly posted in September to mark the anniversary of the infamous 1983 Maze Prison esc

A new report which blasted the PSNI's approach to Black Lives Matter protests in Northern Ireland as "not lawful" raises questions about institutional racism in the force, a law firm has said. Belfast firm Phoenix Law, which is representing a number of people under investigation as a result of BLM p

A ban on over-35s applying to become gardaí is discriminatory and unlawful, the Workplace Relations Commission has ruled. Two men who were refused entry to An Garda Síochána on the basis of their age challenged the relevant regulations with support from the Irish Human Rights an

Gardaí will be able to issue fixed penalty notices of up to €500 under new Covid-19 regulation enforcement powers announced by government ministers. The Health (Amendment) Bill 2020, which ministers want to enact "as soon as possible", will amend the Health Act 1947 to introduce a system

Proposed legislation giving undercover police and MI5 agents explicit permission to commit criminal offences has passed its third reading in the House of Commons by a huge margin. The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) (Criminal Conduct) Bill was approved by 313-98 after the defeat of a number

A prominent crime reporter has lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland over the PSNI's alleged failure to investigate a threat against her newborn son. Patricia Devlin, an award-winning journalist who works for the Sunday World, received a Facebook message in October 2019 in