Under Irish law, the Garda Síochána cannot co-operate with the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, either formally or informally, where police conduct under investigation occurs in the Republic, the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, was told last night.
The Police Ombudsman for the North, Ms Nuala O'Loan, said that although she has sought such co-operation, she has been informed that it is not possible as there is no law to provide transmission of information.
There is also no informal mechanism to enable such communication, she added.
In a paper on the theme "Creating a secure environment for all the citizens", she called for such communication to be made possible.
"If, for example, I were to investigate an allegation that a police officer colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in the Republic, the Garda would investigate the attack. I would investigate whether the actions of the police officers were criminal or in breach of their Code of Ethics.
"The Garda might well have information or evidence which would be relevant to my investigation. If I could not access that information, then I might not be able to deal with the matter," she explained.
Ms O'Loan said this might lead to the situation in which those police officers continued to collude with loyalist paramilitaries. "Indeed, it might lead to further attacks," she added.
She felt that independent investigators in the Republic could face similar problems.
"Governments may wish to consider whether provision should be made for these situations," she said.
As crime does not respect borders, she stressed the importance of co-operation between police services.
"People must be able to be confident that, when they complain about police misconduct, that they will be treated with respect and dignity. They will accept the fact that police officers have rights too, and will be treated as innocent unless the evidence shows otherwise," she said.
She recalled that when her office was opened, 50 per cent of complaints involved some form of abuse of authority. Recently, this figure dropped to 39 per cent.
She also revealed that research has shown that the police in Northern Ireland are 40 times more likely to be the subject of a complaint about baton use than officers in England and Wales. They are also six times more likely to be injured.
The Office of Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland deals with 3,200 matters annually and has a budget of £7 million and a staff of 125."Independent investigation, relatively, is not expensive. Indeed, it can be cheaper than internal investigation," she said.