The Cabinet has approved the publication of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2025, a major piece of legislation designed to modernise and consolidate the statutory basis for key Garda powers, placing them on a clearer and more accessible legislative footing.
Key measures in the Bill:
- Reform of search warrants (including electronic devices)
- Updates and reforms the law on search warrants in light of Supreme Court judgments.
- Provides for tailored search warrants specifically authorising the seizure and search of electronic devices, and procedures to assess claims of privilege.
- Strengthens rights for individuals to be informed about authorised access to data on seized electronic devices (Section 23), reflecting the Landeck judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
- Creates a statutory mechanism enabling the examination of devices seized without prior judicial approval, with appropriate authorisation arrangements.
Judicially supervised handling of privileged material.
- Establishes clear statutory procedures to ensure privileged material is handled through a judicially supervised process.
- Confirms legal professional privilege as absolute, and provides a structured process for other forms of privilege, including (where required) determination by the High Court under Section 24.
Stop-and-search provisions.
- Introduces provisions to support greater consistency in the use and understanding of Garda stop-and-search powers.
- Requires Gardaí to make a formal record of all searches, and provides for stop-and-search of a person or vehicle in a public place where Gardaí reasonably suspect possession of a relevant article (as defined in the legislation).
Custody and interview safeguards.
- Places on a statutory footing the existing right of a person in custody to consult a solicitor before and during interview.
- Provides for electronic recording of Garda interviews and modernises the custody framework.
The Bill is intended to clarify the law in an area that has become complex, strengthen safeguards, and provide clear procedures for dealing with privileged material, grounded in the principle that human rights are the foundation and purpose of policing.
A stamped draft of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2025 has been made available, with formal publication by the Oireachtas to follow in due course.
The Bill builds on the objective of codifying and modernising police powers of search, arrest and detention and strengthening procedural rights, as set out in the earlier general scheme (published June 2021).
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