Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support provided to British witnesses who are interviewed by foreign police forces in the UK.

Foreign law enforcement officers have no powers in the UK and cannot interview witnesses here without the consent of the individual. If the witness does consent, the foreign law enforcement officer is subject to the law of the UK in the same way as any other foreign visitor, so any such interview must be conducted accordingly.

An interview of a witness in the UK is, in the vast majority of cases requested via mutual legal assistance or joint investigation teams, but can be requested through police to police cooperation for voluntary witness interviews – though the latter is an unusual route which is not used very often. How an interview is conducted would be a matter for agreement between the UK police and foreign law enforcement officer but it is a routine requirement that UK police are present when anyone is interviewed by foreign police in the UK.