Guidance

Criminal investigation guidance to the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 (accessible)

Published 19 February 2026

Applies to Northern Ireland

Version 1.0

This guidance is based on the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (Application to Immigration Officers and Designated Customs Officials in Northern Ireland) and Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026 - henceforth referred to as the ‘PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026’

About this guidance

This guidance tells criminal investigators in Immigration Enforcement (IE) and suitably trained and accredited criminal investigators within the Home Office in Northern Ireland about the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (Application to Immigration Officers and Designated Customs Officials in Northern Ireland) and Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026 – from here on referred to as the ‘PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026’.

These regulations apply certain provisions and powers granted to constables within The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to immigration officers and designated customs officers conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland. This particular guidance only relates to immigration officers.

You must only use this guidance, and the powers given by the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026, if you are an immigration officer working in Northern Ireland and:

• are conducting a criminal investigation

• are trained and accredited as a criminal investigator

• are authorised to use these powers

This guidance tells you:

• what the regulations are and what they mean

• the extent of the powers and obligations

• how to apply the regulations in Northern Ireland

The Home Office has a duty to safeguard vulnerable people and promote the welfare of children for more information see: Vulnerable adults and children.

Criminal investigators in Immigration Enforcement must be aware of their obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018, see: Data Protection

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors, then email the CFI Operational Guidance Risk and Compliance Team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance Rules and Forms team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 1.0

• published for Home Office staff on 27 February 2026

Changes from last version of this guidance

New guidance

What are the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026?

This section tells criminal investigators in Immigration Enforcement (IE) and suitably trained and accredited criminal investigators within the Home Office about what the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 are, who they apply to, and when they should be used.

The PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 constitute secondary legislation, known as a statutory instrument, made by the Secretary of State in line with the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.

It is officially cited (referred to) as The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (Application to immigration officers and designated customs officials in Northern Ireland) and Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026.

The regulations, which apply only to Northern Ireland, were agreed by both Houses of Parliament, and came into force on 9 February 2026.

Who the regulations apply to

The regulations apply to suitably trained and accredited immigration officers (and customs officials) who are conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland.

They give some of the powers and obligations available to police officers under The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to immigration officers.

They do this by applying provisions as if particular terms in the PACE (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 were replaced with the following:

PACE Order 1989 term	Replaced with
Constable (all references)	Immigration officer
Officer / police officer / officer of a force maintained by a local policing body (all references, except those in article 20(8) and except any reference to custody officer or officer of Revenue and Customs)	Immigration officer
Rank (all references)	Grade
The police (all references)	The Secretary of State or immigration officers

Furthermore, the regulations define ranks of constables as equivalent with the following grades of immigration officer:

Rank of constable	Grade of immigration officer
Sergeant	Immigration officer
Inspector	Chief immigration officer
Chief inspector	Chief immigration officer
Superintendent	Immigration inspector

The powers and obligations contained in these regulations relate mainly to arresting persons, entering and searching premises, and seizing and retaining evidence.

When PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations should be used

All immigration officers accredited and trained as criminal investigators should use the PACE NI powers available to them when conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland.

Although alternative powers of arrest, search and seizure may be available under other existing legislation, such as the Immigration Act 1971, those powers should not be used unless it is necessary.

This would be because there is no PACE NI equivalent available to immigration officers. For example, using S28H Immigration Act 1971 would be necessary to search an arrested person at a police station custody suite, as these regulations do not confer a power to search persons in custody.

Provisions applied to immigration officers

This section tells immigration officers conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland which provisions of The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 now apply to them, as if they were constables. The list of these provisions can be found in Schedule 1 of The PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026.

Article 10 – power of justice of the peace to authorise entry and search of premises

Under Article 10 you can apply at a magistrate’s court for a warrant to enter and search premises for evidence likely to be of substantial value to an investigation of an indictable offence.

An indictable offence is of a more serious nature that either can or must be tried at a Crown court.

Your application must first satisfy the magistrate that there are reasonable grounds for believing that an indictable offence has been committed, that there is material on the premises which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation of the offence; and that the material is likely to be relevant evidence.

Your application must also satisfy the magistrate that one or more of the following access conditions under Article 10(3) apply:

• that it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant entry to the premises

• that it is practicable to communicate with a person entitled to grant entry to the premises, but it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant access to the evidence

• that entry to the premises will not be granted unless a warrant is produced

• that the purpose of a search may be frustrated or seriously prejudiced unless a constable arriving at the premises can secure immediate entry to them

An Article 10 warrant cannot authorise you to search for:

• items subject to legal privilege, as defined under Article 12

• excluded material, as defined under Article 13

• special procedure material, as defined under Article 16

A magistrate may authorise entry to a premises on more than one occasion, and may authorise entry either one or more specified premises, or all premises occupied and controlled by a specified person (known as an ‘all-premises’ warrant).

Under Article 10 (2) you have the power to seize and retain anything the warrant has authorised you to search for.

Article 8 of the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 states that unlike police officers, you may search any person found on premises searched under an Article 10 warrant if you have reasonable cause to believe that person to be in possession of material which is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation of the offence for which the warrant was issued.

Such a search can only be to the extent reasonably required for the purpose of discovering any such material. You cannot require the person to remove clothing other than outer coat, jacket or gloves, but you can search their mouth. You may only search persons of the same sex.

If you find evidence of another offence while lawfully searching premises under an Article 10 warrant, you may use the general power of seizure under Article 21.

You must comply with PACE Code B as well as Article 17 and Article 18 to use this provision, or else any evidence obtained from a search may be open to question.

Article 11 and Schedule 1 – special provisions as to access to excluded or special procedure material

Article 11 permits you to apply under Schedule 1 to a judge at the county court to either order access (known as a production order) to, or authorise premises to be searched for, excluded or special procedure material, if you satisfy the judge that either of the 2 sets of access conditions.

The first set of access conditions is fulfilled if:

• there are reasonable grounds for believing:

  • that an indictable offence has been committed

  • that there is material which consists of special procedure material or includes special procedure material and does not also include excluded material on premises specified in the application or on premises occupied or controlled by a person specified in the application (including all such premises on which there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is such material as it is reasonably practicable so to specify)

  • that the material is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation in connection with which the application is made; and

  • that the material is likely to be relevant evidence

• other methods of obtaining the material:

  • have been tried without success

  • have not been tried because it appeared that they were bound to fail

• it is in the public interest, having regard:

  • to the benefit likely to accrue to the investigation if the material is obtained

  • to the circumstances under which the person in possession of the material holds it

• that the material should be produced or that access to it should be given

The second set of access conditions is fulfilled if:

• there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is material which consists of or includes excluded material or special procedure material on premises specified in the application, or on premises occupied or controlled by a person specified in the application (including all such premises on which there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is such material as it is reasonably practicable so to specify)

• but for Article 11(2) a search of such premises for that material could have been authorised by the issue of a warrant to a constable under a statutory provision other than this Schedule

• the issue of such a warrant would have been appropriate

Excluded material is defined under Article 13, and special procedure material is defined under Article 16.

Production orders made under Schedule 1 require the person in possession of the material to produce it to you or provide you with access to it either within 7 days or a specified period.

For more information see: Search warrants and production orders.

Article 17 – search warrant safeguards

Article 17 describes the information you must give when you make an application for a search warrant, and that must be contained on the warrant itself.

The application for a search warrant must contain:

• the grounds on which it is made

• the provision under which it would be issued

• the number of entries desired – the warrant will authorise entry on only one occasion unless otherwise specified

• each set of specified premises intended to be searched

• information to identify, so far as is practicable, the articles or persons to be sought

• if the application is for premises occupied or controlled by a specified person (known as an ‘all premises’ warrant):

  • as many premises it is reasonably practicable to specify

  • the person who is in occupation or control of those premises and any others which it is desired to enter and search

  • the necessity to search premises other than those that have been specified

  • why it’s not reasonably practicable to specify all premises to be searched

Applications must be made in writing and substantiated on oath or affirmation. You must answer any questions that the magistrate or judge ask of you.

Article 18 – search warrant execution

Article 18 allows any immigration officer to execute an authorised search warrant.

If authorised by the warrant, persons other than immigration officers can accompany you and they will have the same powers of search and seizure under the terms of the warrant as you do. This is as long as those powers are exercised under the supervision, and in the company of, an immigration officer.

Entry and search under a warrant must be within 3 months of issue.

Any entry to specified premises following the issue of an all-premises warrant, or any subsequent entries to premises on a multi entry warrant, must first be authorised in writing by a chief immigration officer or higher.

Entry and search under a warrant must be at a reasonable hour, unless it appears to you that the purpose of a search may be frustrated on an entry at a reasonable hour.

When executing a warrant, you must identify yourself to any occupant or other person in charge of the premises who is present. You must supply them with a certified copy of the warrant.

If no such person is present, you must leave a copy of the warrant in a prominent place.

See Search warrants and production orders for more information.

Article 19 – entry for purpose of arrest etc.

Article 19(1)(a)(i), (1)(b), (1)(ca), (1)(d), (2) and (3) are applied to immigration officers.

These articles describe the circumstances when you may enter and search a premises to:

• execute a criminal arrest warrant

• arrest a person for an indictable offence

• recapture any person who is, or considered to be, unlawfully at large while liable to be detained in a:

  • prison

  • young offenders centre

  • juvenile justice centre or in any other place in pursuance of Article 45 of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

• recapture a person you are pursuing who is unlawfully at large

You can only use the power of entry if you have reasonable grounds to believe the person you are seeking is on the premises. The power to search conferred by this Article is only a power to search to the extent that is reasonably required for the purpose for which the power of entry is exercised.

You must comply with PACE Code B to use this search provision, and PACE Code G to then effect a lawful arrest.

Article 20 – entry and search after arrest

Article 20(1) gives you the power to enter and search any premises occupied or controlled by a person who is under arrest for an indictable offence if:

• there are reasonable grounds to suspect there is evidence relating to that offence, or another indictable offence which is connected with or similar to that offence

• the material is not subject to legal privilege, as defined in Article 12

You can use this power if a chief immigration officer (CIO) or someone of equivalent grade or above has authorised it in writing. The authorising officer must record the grounds for the search and what evidence is sought.

Under Article 20(5), you may conduct the search before the arrested person is taken to the police station without first obtaining CIO (or above) authorisation, if the arrested person needs to be present for the effective investigation of the offence.

Article 20(6) requires you to inform a CIO or above that you have made the search under Article 20(5) as soon as practicable after making it. The CIO (or above) informed in those circumstances must record the grounds for the search and what evidence was sought.

If the person who was in occupation or control of the premises at the time of the search is in police detention at the time the record is made, the CIO (or above) shall ensure that the record is included as part of the person’s custody record.

You must comply with PACE Code B to use this provision, or else any evidence obtained from a search may be open to question.

Article 21 – general power of seizure

Article 21 states that if you are lawfully on any premises, you can seize anything on those premises if:

• you have reasonable grounds to believe it was obtained from carrying out an offence

or

• it is evidence in relation any offence

or

• seizing it is necessary to prevent it being:

  • concealed

  • lost

  • damaged

  • altered

  • destroyed

You may require any information which meets the criteria above and is stored in electronic form accessible from the premises, to be produced in a form in which it can be taken away and in which it is visible and legible.

Note that you may be lawfully on premises while using the powers of entry and search contained in these regulations or alternatively using powers available to you under the Immigration Acts, for example accompanying an immigration enforcement visit.

Seizure of material you believe to be subject to legal privilege is prohibited. For more information see:

• Legal professional privilege in criminal investigations

• Search and seizure: premises

Article 22 – extension of powers of seizure to computerised information

Article 22 states that if you are lawfully on the premises and using the powers of seizure under this order, you can additionally require any information stored in any electronic format that is accessible from those premises to be produced in a removable format.

Article 23 – access and copying seized material

Under Article 23, if you are requested to provide a record of what was seized by a person showing themself to be either:

• the occupier of the premises

• someone who had custody or control of the seized item immediately before seizure

You must provide a record of what was seized within a reasonable time of the request.

Such a person, or someone acting on their behalf, may make a request to the officer in charge (OIC) of the investigation for access to seized material.

If you are the OIC you must either:

• allow supervised access to it

• produce a photograph or a copy of it within a reasonable time

unless you have reasonable grounds for believing that to do so would prejudice an investigation or proceedings.

You may also photograph or copy, or have photographed or copied, anything which you have a power to seize.

Article 24(1) to (-5) and (7) – retention of seized material

Article 24 describes the circumstances in which you are entitled to retain seized items.

You may retain anything seized or taken away following a requirement under Article 21 or Article 22 for as long as is necessary in all the circumstances, subject to certain limitations.

Items seized as criminal evidence may be retained for trial, for forensic examination, or for investigation in connection with an offence and to establish their lawful owner where there are reasonable grounds for believing that it has been obtained in consequence of the commission of an offence. They may not be retained if a photograph or copy would suffice.

Items seized to prevent physical injury, damage to property, interference with evidence, or escape, may not be retained once the person they were seized from is no longer in custody.

Article 26 (1) to (5)(c)(iii) and (d) to (f) – arrest without warrant

Article 26 tells you who you can arrest without a warrant. You can arrest any person:

• who is:

  • guilty of an offence

  • about to commit an offence

  • in the process of committing an offence

• you have reasonable grounds to suspect is:

  • guilty of an offence

  • about to commit an offence

  • in the process of committing an offence

You can only use this power of arrest if you have reasonable grounds to believe the arrest is necessary to:

• find out the person’s name and address

• prevent the person:

  • causing physical injury to themselves or another

  • suffering physical injury

  • causing loss of, or damage to, property

• protect a child or other vulnerable person from the individual

• allow the prompt and effective investigation of the:

  • offence

  • person’s conduct

• prevent any prosecution for the offence being hindered by the person disappearing

This element of necessity is outlined further in PACE Code G, and you will be expected to give the necessity for any arrest you make to the custody officer.

This power extends to any offence, rather than just immigration and nationality matters.

Although alternative powers of arrest may be available to you under the Immigration Acts, you must use the power of arrest provided for under the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 when conducting a criminal investigation.

Article 30 – information to be given on arrest

Article 30 informs you that an arrest is not lawful:

• unless the person you arrest is told:

  • they are under arrest as soon as practicable after the arrest and

  • of the grounds for the arrest at the time of or as soon as is practicable after the arrest

• unless it was not reasonably practicable for you to inform them because they have escaped from arrest before you could give them the information

PACE Code G paragraph 3 also requires you to give the caution to a person when they are arrested. The caution should be in the following terms:

“You do not have to say anything, but I must caution you that if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court, it may harm your defence. If you do say anything it may be given in evidence.”

Article 31 – voluntary attendance at a police station

Article 31 states that a person attending voluntarily at a police station or any other place to assist you with an investigation is entitled to leave at any time, unless you arrest them, at which point you must inform them according to Article 30.

For more information on voluntary attendance see:

• PACE Code C para 3.16.

• Interviewing suspects

Article 32 (1) to (4)(a) and (5) to (16)– arrest elsewhere than at police station

Article 32 places requirements on you to take a person to a police station as soon as it is practicable after their arrest.

You can delay taking a person to a police station immediately where the presence of the arrested person at a place other than a police station is necessary to carry out such investigations as it is reasonable to carry out immediately. Any reason for such a delay must be recorded when the person arrives at a police station or is released on bail.

The person must be immediately released (whether or not they have arrived at a police station) if you are satisfied there are no longer grounds to keep that person under arrest or releasing him on bail.

Article 33 – arrest for further offence

Article 33 states that you shall further arrest a person for an offence if they are already under arrest at a police station, and you feel if they were released, they would be liable to arrest for another offence.

Article 34 (1) to (9) – search upon arrest

Article 34 confers powers to search both arrested persons and the premises they were in when arrested, or immediately prior to arrest.

You may search any arrested person at a place other than a police station, if you have reasonable grounds to believe they:

• may pose a danger to themselves or others

• have anything that might be used to assist in escaping from lawful custody

• have anything that may be evidence relating to an offence

You may also enter and search any premises where a person was present upon arrest, or immediately before arrest, for evidence relating to the offence, provided the offence for which the person is arrested is indictable.

If you find any of the items searched for above, you may then seize them under Article 21 and retain them under Article 24.

Note that this power does not apply within a police station, where you may either ask custody staff to perform a search on your behalf or use the search power under S28H Immigration Act 1971.

You must comply with PACE Code B when conducting premises searches under this Article.

Article 47A – power of arrest for failure to answer bail

Article 47A states that you may arrest a person without a warrant if they were released on bail under Part V PACE (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 following their arrest for an offence subject to a duty to attend at a police station but do not attend at that police station at the appointed time.

If you arrest a person under this power, you must take them to the police station they were bailed to attend as soon as practicable.

Article 51(b) – savings including terrorism powers

Article 51(b) retains your administrative powers of arrest conferred by the Immigration Act 1971. These should not be used as part of criminal investigations.

You also retain the following powers of arrest without warrant granted by the Terrorism Act 2000. You may still arrest a person without warrant under the powers given by:

• section 41 if you reasonably suspect a person to be a terrorist, as defined by Section 40 Terrorism Act 2000

• section 43B if the person is a terrorist offender who you reasonably suspect has breached a condition of their license, and whose detention pending a recall decision is necessary to protect the public

You also retain powers to stop, question and detain suspected terrorists at ports and border areas under Schedule 7 Terrorism Act 2000.

Article 84(2) – performing duties of higher rank

Article 84(2) states that if a power under a provision can only be used with the authority of a chief immigration officer (CIO) or above, then an immigration officer is treated as a CIO if they authorised to use that power by an Immigration Inspector or above.

Police ranks and their equivalent grades of immigration officer are determined in Schedule 1 Part 3 of these Regulations. Also see Who the regulations apply to.

Powers not conferred by the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

This section tells immigration officers conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland which powers are not conferred to them under the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026.

The regulations do not give all the powers and obligations in The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to immigration officers, as many of its provisions, such as those covering stop and search, are not immediately relevant to immigration and nationality work. You can only use the provisions cited in Provisions applied to immigration officers.

Regulation 4 also explicitly states that nothing in these regulations confers on an immigration officer any power to:

• charge a person with an offence

• release a person on bail

These functions may only be performed by constables.

Authorisation and using reasonable force

This section tells immigration officers conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland about the authority to use powers and use of reasonable force under the PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026.

To use the Provisions applied to immigration officers by these regulations, you must be an immigration officer acting with the authority of the Secretary of State.

Any powers conferred to you by these regulations which do not rely on the consent of another person may be exercised with the use of reasonable force if necessary.

Equivalent provisions under the PACE Order 2013

This section outlines the corresponding powers that immigration officers conducting criminal investigations in either England and Wales or Northern Ireland may use.

The PACE (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 apply a set of provisions to immigration officers conducting criminal investigations in Northern Ireland that are equivalent to, and function in the same way as, those applied to immigration officers in England and Wales by The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Application to immigration officers and designated customs officials in England and Wales) Order 2013 – known as the PACE Order 2013.

This is because the primary legislation in each jurisdiction, namely the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, feature many provisions which are intentionally consistent with one another.

You can use the following table to refer to the equivalent provisions granted to immigration officers across the 2 jurisdictions:

Provision	PACE NI Order 1989 Article	PACE 1984 Section
Power of Justice of the Peace to authorise entry and search of premises	Article 10	Section 8
Special provisions as to access to excluded or special procedure material	Article 11 (1) and Schedule 1	Section 9 (1) and Schedule 1
Search warrant safeguards	Article 17	Section 15
Execution of search warrants	Article 18	Section 16
Entry for purpose of arrest etc.	Article 19 (1)(a)(i), (1)(b), (1)(ca), (1)(d), (2) and (3)	Section 17 (1)(a)(i), (1)(b), (1)(cb)(i), (1)(d), (2) and (4)
Entry and search after arrest	Article 20	Section 18
General power of seizure	Article 21	Section 19
Extension of powers of seizure to computerised information	Article 22	Section 20
Access and copying	Article 23	Section 21
Retention of seized material	Article 24(1) to (5) and (7)	Section 22(1) to (4) and (7)
Arrest without warrant	Article 26(1) to (5)(c)(iii) and (5)(d) to (5)(f)	Section 24 (1) to (5)(c)(iii) and (5)(d) to (5)(f)
Information to be given on arrest	Article 30	Section 28
Voluntary attendance at police station	Article 31	Section 29
Arrest elsewhere than at a police station	Article 32(1) to (4)(a) and (5) to (16)	Section 30 (1) to (4)(a) and (5) to (13)
Arrest for further offence	Article 33	Section 31
Search upon arrest	Article 34(1) to (9)	Section 32 (1) to (9)
Power of arrest for failure to answer to police bail	Article 47A	Section 46A (1) and (1A) to (3)
Savings including terrorism powers etc	Article 51(b)	Section 51(b)
Performing duties of higher rank	Article 84(2)	Section 107 (2)

For more information on criminal powers available to immigration officers in England and Wales, see Criminal investigation guidance to the PACE (1984) Order 2013.