Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989

Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989

Statutory Instrument
Citation	SI 1989/1341 (N.I. 12)
Territorial extent	Northern Ireland
Dates
Made	2 August 1989
Commencement	2 September 1989 (1989-09-02)
Other legislation
Relates to	Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (SI 1989/1341) is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in Northern Ireland similar to the framework for the powers introduced in England and Wales by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Background

The order was drafted in response to a 1980 royal commission. ^[1]

Provisions

The order provides the power to obtain a custody image and also contains the requirements on the use of that image. ^[2] The police cannot seize a document under the order unless they have "reasonable suspicion that it is evidence and its retention is necessary". ^[3] The order allows for the use of stop and search powers in some situations. ^[4]

References

1. Blackstock, Jodie (16 August 2010). "The Cadder effect". Law Society of Scotland . Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
2. Breslin, John (16 April 2025). "This is the dangerous rapist that police didn't want you to see". The Irish News . Archived from the original on 16 April 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
3. "NUJ concerned by seizure law change". PressGazette. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 September 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
4. Topping, John; Bradford, Ben (1 February 2020). "Now you see it, now you don't: On the (in)visibility of police stop and search in Northern Ireland" . Criminology & Criminal Justice. 20 (1): 93–110. doi:10.1177/1748895818800742. ISSN   1748-8958.