Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Court Security Officers (Designation and Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 25th July 2005.

Training requirements for court security officers

2.—(1) Before a person may be designated or employed as a court security officer, he must provide the Lord Chancellor with documentary evidence that he has completed one or more training courses which include instruction in the following—

(a)the duties and powers of a court security officer;

(b)risk assessment;

(c)safe working practices;

(d)managing stress when dealing with threatening situations;

(e)techniques for restraining a person and removing them from a building.

(2) Where the Lord Chancellor has designated or employed a person as a court security officer, he may subsequently require that person to undergo—

(a)further training in any of the matters mentioned in paragraph (1); or

(b)training in any other matter which the Lord Chancellor determines,

and the Lord Chancellor may make different determinations in respect of different officers, courts, court buildings and areas.

Proof of identity and other requirements

3.  Before a person may be designated or employed as a court security officer, the Lord Chancellor shall:

(a)obtain proof of the person’s identity;

(b)obtain a declaration from that person as to whether he has any unspent criminal convictions within the meaning of the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(2); and

(c)make a criminal records check.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Schedule 3 to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2004 (c. 4) makes provision about court security officers. These Regulations prescribe—

(a)training which must be completed; and

(b)conditions that must be satisfied,

before a person may be designated or employed as a court security officer.

Regulation 2 sets out the content of the required training. Regulation 3 sets out requirements about proof of identity, criminal record declarations and criminal record checks.