Code of practice
23(1)The Department of Justice in Northern Ireland must prepare and issue a code in respect of the practice to be followed by Northern Ireland constables and enforcement officers when arresting a person under the power conferred by paragraph 22.
(2)The code must in particular provide guidance as to the information to be given to the person at the time of arrest (whether about procedural rights or other matters).
(3)A failure of a constable or an enforcement officer to comply with any provision of the code does not of itself render the constable or officer liable to any criminal or civil proceedings.
(4)The code—
(a)is admissible in evidence in criminal and civil proceedings, and
(b)may be taken into account by a court or tribunal in any case in which it appears to the court or tribunal to be relevant.
(5)The Department of Justice may at any time revise the whole or any part of the code.
(6)The code, or any revision of the code, does not come into operation until the Department of Justice—
(a)lays a draft of the code, or revised code, before the Northern Ireland Assembly, and
(b)provides by order for the code, or revised code, to come into operation.
(7)An order bringing the code into operation may contain such transitional provisions or savings as appear to the Department of Justice to be necessary or expedient.
(8)An order under this paragraph is subject to negative resolution (within the meaning of section 41(6) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (c. 33 (N.I.))).
(9)The power of the Department of Justice to make an order under this paragraph is exercisable by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1573 (N.I. 12)).