What are the Garda powers

phonebox

Just a few ????



What are the garda allowed ask you when they stop you in a car.

Assume that car is 08 bmw 530d, pristine cond taxed and driver is insured and sober.

Can you video record them when they stop you, do you have to inform them that you are recording them.

Can you refuse to get out of car.

Can you refuse to hand over keys.

Can you leave engine and stereo on.

How long can they detain you on roadside before you are allowed compensation.

mle1324

phonebox wrote: »

Just a few ????



What are the garda allowed ask you when they stop you in a car.

Assume that car is 08 bmw 530d, pristine cond taxed and driver is insured and sober.

Can you video record them when they stop you, do you have to inform them that you are recording them.

Can you refuse to get out of car.

Can you refuse to hand over keys.

Can you leave engine and stereo on.

How long can they detain you on roadside before you are allowed compensation.

if you dont do what they say then that will make them more suspicious and give them the more reason to drag you out of the car.

biko

They can stop anyone and search the car and your person and passengers. Only diplomatic cars cannot be searched.
Why would you refuse getting out of the car etc, just weird behaviour tbh.

Dublin Police Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act, the Criminal Law Act and the Animal Remedies Act, entitles police officers to search you and/or your vehicle without a warrant. If one of these statutes is being invoked in order to search you without a search warrant, you are entitled to told about it.

Tenzor07

If they stop you its best to be courteous and polite, hand over your licence and insurance if they ask and dont have the stereo blaring or engine running if they are trying to talk to you..obviously they have stopped you for something.
And they can keep you at the roadside for as long as it takes to check that your documentation is correct.
And there would be no basis for awarding you compensation just because they stopped you to check the above..

Unless this happens: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0523/1224247215254.html

Del2005

phonebox wrote: »

Just a few ????



What are the garda allowed ask you when they stop you in a car.

Anything they want, they use questioning to determine if the driver is on something.

Assume that car is 08 bmw 530d, pristine cond taxed and driver is insured and sober.

Can you video record them when they stop you, do you have to inform them that you are recording them.

AFAIK yes, once they are in a public place and not in their vehicle or Garda station.

Can you refuse to get out of car.

Can you refuse to hand over keys.

Yes, but then they will arrest you using one of the laws posted by Magnus.

Can you leave engine and stereo on.

Yes, but it's ignorant to someone doing their job. At least turn down the stereo and if getting out of the car turn it off.

How long can they detain you on roadside before you are allowed compensation.

Till they are happy with your documentation and you and all your passengers status. You don't get any money for being stopped. If you are courteous you'll get away a lot quicker then being cheeky.

declanx

They have the amsing power to state the obvious.

thethedev

[

declanx wrote: »

They have the amsing power to state the obvious.

Road Traffic Act, amendment to the bill 1991
...where such a vehicle has been stopped(see definition) a serving member of An Garda Siochána is obliged under constitutional duty(see definition) to repeatedly state obvious occurances, minor lawful defects with aforementioned vehicle, bellitle the owner/driver's taste in music(music being herby defined under this act as sound of rythmic, melodic or both which is created with the intention of entertainment purposes)
to ask run-around questions(see definition) which are not worth answering and to be generally condescending(see definiton).

x in the city

at the end of the day acting the bollox is going to get no where with them

timmywex

Acting the bollocks will simply make them do the most intricate search on your car, while making you stand and watch it. Then theyll tell you to wait at the side of the road while they find something else to busy themselves with. Much easier to just co operate

PCPhoto

OP .... if you started talking to someone would you appreciate it if they suddenly turned a video camera on you.... my guess is you would be pi$$ed off.

if you were asking someone questions and they had loud music on or were refusing to answer.... would you get pi$$ed off ? I think so.

next time (and by the sounds of it there will be a next time for you) ...... be human and respect the gardai - if they go over the line (in your opinion) then by all means report them to the garda ombudsman.

no offence intended to you but your post makes it sound like you are early or mid 20s driving around in an expensive car with music blaring ..... pretty much a stereotypical target for the gardai. (they will naturally assume you have either stolen the car or it was bought with the proceeds of crime)..... maybe the car has a bad history (ie. its associated with known criminals) ...although being only a year old I doubt it.

OP you may well be stopped many times - due to meeting a garda stereotype (make a note of garda ID numbers and record time/place in a notebook - if it becomes regular goto garda ombudsman)

-Chris-

Attack the post, not the poster, PC Photo.

There's nothing in the OP's post to say that this even happened to them!

Johnny Utah

phonebox wrote: »

Just a few ????



What are the garda allowed ask you when they stop you in a car.

Entitled to question a driver as they see fit- they can ask pretty much anything, within reason of course.

phonebox wrote: »

Assume that car is 08 bmw 530d, pristine cond taxed and driver is insured and sober.

Can you video record them when they stop you, do you have to inform them that you are recording them.

Yes on both counts, provided you are in a public place, although it's likely to antagonise them.

phonebox wrote: »

Can you refuse to get out of car.

Depends on the circumstances. Provided the driver is sober, has a valid driving licence, the car is perfectly legal, and there is no reason to search the car, then I can't see why the driver would be asked to step out of the car. On the other hand, however, if the driver was suspected of drink driving, for example, then he would have to get out of the car.

phonebox wrote: »

Can you refuse to hand over keys.

Yes, you are entitled to have the car towed/put on a lorry if it is being seized.

phonebox wrote: »

Can you leave engine and stereo on.

At a normal checkpoint; yes, but common sense and manners would tell you to turn down/turn off the radio at a regular checkpoint. I'd always leave the engine on at a regular checkpoint, sure you're only there for a few seconds. If it's something more serious, where you may be kept longer (eg. checking for illegal diesel), then it would be sensible to turn off the engine.

phonebox wrote: »

How long can they detain you on roadside before you are allowed compensation.

Detain is an unfortunate choice of word, because in law it imples a complete restriction on liberty (ie. being arrested), and there are strict time limits which have to be adhered to. If you are referring to being kept at the roadside and questioned whilst in your car, then I imagine that a reasonable amount of time is allowed (ie. a few minutes to carry out their enquiries). If you feel that you are being constantly harassed for no particular reason, then ask for ID at the scene and put a complaint in writing to the Ombudsman and/or local Superintendent.

Magnus wrote: »

They can stop anyone and search the car and your person and passengers. Only diplomatic cars cannot be searched.
Why would you refuse getting out of the car etc, just weird behaviour tbh.

Dublin Police Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act, the Criminal Law Act and the Animal Remedies Act, entitles police officers to search you and/or your vehicle without a warrant. If one of these statutes is being invoked in order to search you without a search warrant, you are entitled to told about it.

Not true; in order to perform a legal search, the Garda must have reasonable suspicion that an offence is committed. What amounts to reasonable suspicion is to be judged by objective standards. This has been discussed a few times over on the legal discussion forum.

AugustusMaximus

Must the Garda tell you under which statute they are searching your car before it is searched ?

I know for instance that you can't be arrested unless the garda tells you what you are being arrested for.


BTW, i would be sacked if I took the belittling attitude some Gardai take against the general public. But hey, they get away with it so they don't care.

Johnny Utah

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

Must the Garda tell you under which statute they are searching your car before it is searched ?

I know for instance that you can't be arrested unless the garda tells you what you are being arrested for.

Yes, the must inform you of the legal and factual reasons for searching your car. This means that they must tell you the statute under which they are exercising their power to search (eg. Misuse of Drugs Act), and the factual reason underlying the search (eg. they can smell cannabis use inside the car).

phonebox

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Yes, the must inform you of the legal and factual reasons for searching your car. This means that they must tell you the statute under which they are exercising their power to search (eg. Misuse of Drugs Act), and the factual reason underlying the search (eg. they can smell cannabis use inside the car).

Thanks Johnny, that was the reply that I was looking for.


Why people bother to reply when they have not read or understood the post is beyond me.


Legally they can only ask you where you have been and your name and address, unless they are stopping you for a specific reason which they must inform you of.

So if you are at checkpoint

You do not have to get out of vehicle

You do not have to give them the keys

You do not have to give them your license

PeakOutput

phonebox wrote: »

Thanks Johnny, that was the reply that I was looking for.


Why people bother to reply when they have not read or understood the post is beyond me.


Legally they can only ask you where you have been and your name and address, unless they are stopping you for a specific reason which they must inform you of.

So if you are at checkpoint

You do not have to get out of vehicle

You do not have to give them the keys

You do not have to give them your license

why did you ask if you already knew the answer?

timmywex

phonebox wrote: »

Thanks Johnny, that was the reply that I was looking for.


Why people bother to reply when they have not read or understood the post is beyond me.


Legally they can only ask you where you have been and your name and address, unless they are stopping you for a specific reason which they must inform you of.

So if you are at checkpoint

You do not have to get out of vehicle

You do not have to give them the keys

You do not have to give them your license

You have to produce your license if they ask. Road traffic act 1994, section 25

TheNog

phonebox wrote: »

So if you are at checkpoint

You do not have to get out of vehicle

You do not have to get out of your car unless your car is eing seized or searched

You do not have to give them your license

Yes you do when requested

Straighttalker

phonebox wrote: »

Thanks Johnny, that was the reply that I was looking for.


Why people bother to reply when they have not read or understood the post is beyond me.


Legally they can only ask you where you have been and your name and address, unless they are stopping you for a specific reason which they must inform you of.

So if you are at checkpoint

You do not have to get out of vehicle

You do not have to give them the keys

You do not have to give them your license

NOT TRUE -

In a legal context,

Yes you do have to give them your license if asked... It is a specific offence not to.

If your car is being seized, yes you do have to hand the keys over- it may be seen as obstruction if you do not.

There is also a common law power if you are arrested and your vehicle is causing an obstruction for the gardai to move it.

stealthyspeeder

Back when I was 17 my friend used to have a corsa with a loud exhaust (yes very stereotypical, but hes a hilarious guy and loved being cheeky!).

Naturally he got pulled over every week, his first action was to pull over and sit there with the doors locked, windows up. When the police came over, he would start talking to them through the glass. They always asked him to put the window down, which he did and during the initial conversation everythime the officer spoke, he would put the window up by an inch! This infuriated most of them and the majority became unproffesional with insults and threatening attidude. His car was perfectly legally so he had no problem winding the police up as they tried as hard as they could to find fault. I must admit, at the time as a passenger I found the whole episode hilarious, not so much now!

trad

Sounds like some one failed tha attitude test. What did you do to piss them off? If a motorist is polite and civil there is on reason that the Gardai will give you hastle.

If you are a smug smart arse "I know my rights" and "my daddy is a Barrister" type and you are looking for hassle no better menand women of the traffic corps.

My experience has been on both sides of the fence, as a traffic cop and, since I retired, as a motorist. If the windscreen is in order, the motorist sober and all wearing a seatbelt there is little or no reason to speak to the motorist other than to bid them a good day. I found the vast majority of motorists were pleasant and well disposed towards the Gardai recognising that there is a job to be done. If it was a pup driving a high powered car whose driving skill were much at variance with his (usually his) ego, you are just asking for trouble.

I often found that most hassle came from those who percieved they were well off who didn't see why the law should apply to them.

jamhan

What a rediculous post to be discussing. basically all you need is some common sense, Phonebox, you seem like you are one of these - do you know who i am people -

my advise is just sit there with a smile and answer there questions, after all they are just doing there job. if they do come across some smart twat then why shouldnt they try to pi$$ them of.

Yakult

So its legal to use a video recorder when they pull you over? What if for instance they tell you to stop and take the phone off you? can you do anything against that?

Del2005

R_H_C_P wrote: »

So its legal to use a video recorder when they pull you over? What if for instance they tell you to stop and take the phone off you? can you do anything against that?

It's an offence to have a phone in your hand in a car, if your the driver. So you'll get a nice couple of points and a fine just for being a smart @rse.

Not too sure of the procedure for taking your phone off you put they can ask you to stop recording, but AFAIK you can keep recording once in a public place.