Hypothetical question about Garda arrest just over the border

The Garda have no jurisdiction and no power of arrest in Northern Ireland. Any purported arrest would be invalid.

Members of the Garda occasionally travel into Northern Ireland in the course of their duty by arrangement. But it would be in the context of cross border cooperation with the PSNI, for example to attend a meeting. Not to pursue a suspect. The reverse also takes place.

All during the 'troubles' there was talk of a hot pursuit zone, but it never came to anything.

Multiple times, on dark country roads, there have been incursions accidentally. Some do appear in the press, but it does happen.

You do get guys running over the border to get away, but when they return they are picked up. While it would be illegal, I wouldnt be surprised if a quiet call was made to say someone was being released at a certain time and to expect them.

There is a garage over the bridge in Strabane that is good for sitting behind while waiting out of sight 😉

Evidence gathered from an unlawful arrest may be inadmissible: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/arrests/unlawful_arrest_and_detention.html. If the Gardaí made an arrest in Strabane, and found 2kgs of heroin on the suspect, they might have just ruined their own case.

OTOH, if they have pre-existing evidence of Joe Bloggs' involvement in drug-dealing, they know he's in Strabane, and conduct a midnight raid across the border, I don't think there's anything in the Irish legal system that will protect Joe Bloggs.

However, the individual Gardaí involved in the raid have likely committed a crime on UK soil - they have no right to detain or transport JB from Strabane, so they may well face criminal charges in a UK court. Depending on where the orders came from, there may also be siginificant political ramifications - the UK would quite rightly be ticked off with an Irish police force operating illegally in their territory.

They have certainly broken french law. and garda regulations. but this is all just nonsense and has no place in the legal discussion forum.

Your question has been answered.

In ROI Gardai have power of arrest and in NI PSNI have power of arrest.

The two police forces do cooperate and protocols are in place to facilitate the arrest of suspects.

No they have no power of arrest in another jurisdiction. Another hypothetical example: if a suspected murderer fled to Mars, the Gardai could not hire a rocket and arrest them there.

Evidence may be inadmissible but may not be. A recent example being the inadvertent recording of Messrs. Dowdall and Hutch in NI being admissible

Unlawfulness of the arrest is an interesting one. As the guards would be outside the jurisdiction. I don't know whether the O'Brien rule comes into play there. What constitutional rights are afforded to you outside the jurisdiction?

Could a Guard make a "citizen's arrest" in the North? ....... Hand him over to the PSNI

A variation of the theme, a women in Florida is claiming her unborn fetus is unlawfully detain with her in Jail.

Police can't just "casually escort" people around the place (unless they consent to it). They're either under arrest or they're not.

There are extradition procedures for exchange of suspects between jurisdictions.

No more than a Judge could allow evidence that was gathered during an illegal search. Not a lawyer, but that would be my understanding.

OP, I’d just stay on th Northern side of the border until the fuss dies down if I were you 😉

They can extradite you to IRL even if you haven't been caught doing something in NI.

Within the EU, there's a European Arrest Warrant system in which the authorities in one member state can issue an arrest warrant that other member states will enforce. They can't do this for the purposes of investigation, only for the purposes of charging or trying you, or (if you have already been convicted) for enforcing your sentence. And the offence in question has to be one that carries a maximum sentence of at least one year. But if the IRL authorities want to charge you with burglary or assault, say, they can issue an EAW and the authorities in any member state will arrest you and send you to IRL.

Right. The UK, obviously, is no longer a member state; hasn't been since 31 December 2020. But the Trade and Co-operation Agreement contains similar rules and procedures that effectively mean that a similar arrangement operates between the UK and EU member states. So the IRL authorities can still issue a warrant which will be enforced in NI (or GB).