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Scotland: Cross-border curbs scrapped

01 March 1994

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Internal border controls within the UK which prevent police officers from England and Northern Ireland from making arrests in Scotland are to be scrapped. The change has been introduced in an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill, and was accepted without a vote by the all-party House of Commons Committee on 1 March. MPs complained that they had been presented with a whole series of amendments to the Bill, which was introduced in December, with no chance to debate their implications. It also poses a question over suspects" rights because the Scottish legal system is different and quite distinct from that in England and Wales.

At present officers working outside of their usual legal jurisdiction are stripped of their powers of arrest. The proposal will allow Scottish officers to make arrests south of the border, and officers from English and Welsh police forces and the Royal Ulster Constabulary to operate in Scotland. Current cross-border police powers are restricted to a narrow corridor along the Border. This allows officers from Lothian and Borders, Dumfries and Galloway forces and those from Northumbria and Cumbria to follow criminals in "hot pursuit" into the neighbouring country.

Carole Ewart, director of the Scottish Council for Civil Liberties said that the proposals would sweep away the independence and protection of Scotland's legal system and had been introduced without public debate.

Scotsman 2.3.94.

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