The UK's diminished influence and access to data sources in cross-border law enforcement reduces options for UK in fight against crime

Viewpoints
January 26, 2021
1 minutes

The FT article linked below sets out the ways in which the UK will suffer from the UK's withdrawal from the EU in the fight against cross-border crime.

One key loss is the UK's access to the Second Schengen Information System database, the largest information-sharing system for security and border management in Europe operating on real time alerts.

This means that the UK is reliant upon Interpol's alert system for circulating and receiving alerts. This is sub-optimal: as the NCA warned the Home Affairs Committee, the Interpol system "is not a like-for-like system, so there are capability gaps affecting both sides which will reduce our ability to dynamically exchange real time alerts and data on persons and objects of interest.

Furthermore, and as the FT points out, Interpol has long been the subject of criticism for allowing its processes to be misused by certain countries; so - whilst previously the SIS II database enabled information to be shared between 27 trusted partners - using Interpol's systems presents a far greater challenge.

That reliance on the Interpol alert system will impact on the fight against cross-border crime is certain. The extent to which it does so remains to be seen.