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17 Eur. Pub. L. 197 (2011)
The Devolution of Policing and Criminal Justice

handle is hein.kluwer/epl0017 and id is 203 raw text is: Northern Ireland The Devolution of Policing and Criminal Justice Gordon ANTHONY* 1. INTRODUCTION This rapport takes as its starting point an observation made towards the end of the previous Northern Ireland contribution to this journal, namely that the devolution of policing and criminal justice would mark a further consolidation of political stability in Northern Ireland.' At the time of that contribution, legislative competence for policing and criminal justice remained with the Westminster Parliament,2 and the Northern Ireland Assembly (the Assembly) was able to legislate in the area only with the consent of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. However, political developments since then have resulted in the transfer of legislative functions to the Assembly on 12 April 2010,4 the creation of a Department ofJustice headed by a Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive for an initial period ending on 1 May 2012,s and the appointment of a new Attorney General for Northern Ireland.6 The local institutions have thus acquired legislative and executive competence in policing and criminal justice, albeit that measures will be subject to the constitutional limitations set by, primarily, the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The corresponding purposes of the rapport are twofold. First, it seeks to provide an overview of exactly 'who does what' in matters of policing and criminal justice within the devolved structures. Although the most high-profile office holders are the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, there are a number of other important actors in the area who perform a range of complementary tasks (among them, * School of Law, Queen's University, Belfast. With thanks to Brice Dickson, Aidan O'Neill, David Scoflicld, and Hugh Widdis for answering queries and/or reading earlier drafts of this rapport. Errors and opinions are mine. ' G. Anthony, 'The St Andrews Agreement and the Northern Ireland Assembly', European Public Law 14, no. 2 (2008): 151-164. Northern Ireland Act 1998, Sch. 3, paras 9-10 (as then unamended). Ibid., s. 8. Ibid. (Amendment of Sch. 3) Order 2010 (SI 2010/977). s Department ofJustice Act (NI) 2010, as read with Sch. I to the Northern Ireland Act 2009. Functions were transferred to the Department by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Criminal Justice) Order 2010 (SI 2010/976). 6 Appointments are governed by the Justice (NI) Act 2002, ss 22-24. See infra n. 100 to n. 113 and text. Anthony, Gordon. 'The Devolution of Policing and Criminal justice'. European Public Law 17, no. 2 (2011): 197-211. @ 2011 Kluwer Law International 1V, The Netherlands

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