How could Brexit affect policing the Irish border? Lords to hear from experts
Friday 13 November 2020
Next week, the House of Lords EU Security and Justice Committee will be examining post-Brexit police cooperation in Northern Ireland. This comes just days after Biden stressed the importance of peace on the Irish border during his first call to the Prime Minister.
These back-to-back remote sessions will start at 10am on Tuesday 17 November and can be watched live on Parliament TV.
During the sessions, the committee will hear from experts on the main policing challenges on the island of Ireland, looking more closely at how the UK and EU will collaborate post-Brexit and ensure minimal impact on security.
The witnesses will be:
At 10.00am
- Mark McEwan, Assistant Chief Constable, Police Service of Northern Ireland
At 11.00am
- Dr. Amanda Kramer, Research Fellow, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast
- Dr. Vicky Conway, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
Questions likely to be asked across both sessions include:
- What are the main policing challenges on the island of Ireland today and how to the police forces on either side of the border cooperate to meet those challenges?
- How has Brexit affected those challenges?
- What role have EU law enforcement and criminal justice mechanisms, such as the European Arrest Warrant, played in cross-border policing?
- How should those mechanisms be replaced post-Brexit?
- What will be the consequences of the UK and EU failing to reach agreement on cross-border policing and security?
- If there is failure to reach agreement, will the Irish government be able to negotiate bilateral agreement with the UK on policing and security?
