Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Cope of Berkeley (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 27 January 2010.

Northern Ireland: Cross-border Police Co-operation

Question: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for that Answer and particularly to know that the procedural manual which was originally promised for last April is getting near production. We all agree that the policing relationships and the co-operation between the two police forces are absolutely excellent at all levels, but these legal and jurisdictional problems continue to make it much more difficult than it need be to investigate and prosecute crimes near the border. Can we expect progress tomorrow over, for example, the extension of the criminal jurisdiction Acts, so that money laundering, as well as murder and the other things on the list, can be tried in either jurisdiction?

Answer: My Lords, first, I pay tribute to the noble Lord for his persistent questioning in the specific area of cross-border policing. Thanks to that questioning, the Government are making progress on those matters and in Northern Ireland. I am not entirely sure whether the criminal jurisdiction Acts are on the agenda for tomorrow. Work continues to establish which offences are not covered by the Criminal Jurisdiction Act 1975 and how best to fill the gaps. The Irish Attorney-General has confirmed that he is content that their own Act should be amended to include additional offences.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 716 c1410-1
Session: 2009-10
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Criminal proceedings Criminal investigation Cross border cooperation Jurisdiction Northern Ireland Police Prosecutions Police Service of Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Garda Síochána
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk