QBNI ‘The applicant challenges the refusal of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to provide him and his solicitor with tapes of police interviews conducted with him as an assisting offender following the making of a written agreement with a specified prosecutor pursuant to section 73 (1) (b) of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA). The applicant contends that the refusal is unlawful for three principal reasons: –
(A) The PSNI failed to provide the interview tapes in accordance with its obligation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice E;
(B) The applicant had a legitimate expectation that the tapes would be provided to his solicitor because:
(i) he was advised that the interviews were being carried out in the spirit of PACE;
(ii) he was supplied after the interviews with a notice under PACE telling him that he or his solicitor could arrange to listen to the tapes if he was prosecuted; and
(iii) his solicitor indicated that the usual practice of the PSNI was to provide tapes immediately and in any event no later than two weeks after the conclusion of the interviews.
(C) The reasons given by the PSNI for the refusal to provide the tapes are concerned with confidentiality and are irrational since the applicant was present at all of the interviews, his solicitor was also present and free to take notes, the refusal will result in delay to criminal proceedings against the applicant and portions of the interviews have already been disclosed to the defendants in another case.’
Judges:
Morgan LCJ, Higgins LJ and Treacy J
Citations:
[2012] NIQB 14
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Northern Ireland
Police
Updated: 22 October 2022; Ref: scu.457662