International Protection Act 2026

• Permanent Page URL

Search of applicant

32. (1) An applicant shall, when required so to do by a member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister, declare whether or not the applicant is carrying or conveying any documents and, if so required, shall produce the documents to the member or officer.

(2) A member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister may search an applicant and any luggage belonging to the applicant or under the applicant’s control with a view to ascertaining whether the applicant is carrying or conveying any documents where—

(a) it is reasonably necessary to do so for reasons of national security,

(b) it is necessary and duly justified to do so for the purpose of examining an application for international protection, including for the purpose of informing the applicant of the procedure under which the application shall be examined under Part 7 or for the purpose of verifying the identity or nationality of the applicant, or

(c) the member or officer has a reasonable suspicion that one or more than one of the following offences is being committed or that the applicant may have evidence of or relating to such an offence in the applicant’s possession:

(i) an offence under subsection (9), section 69(6) or 209;

(ii) an offence under section 2 , 4 or 5 of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 ;

(iii) an offence under section 6 , 7 or 8 of the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021 .

(3) A member of An Garda Síochána may examine and retain a document produced under subsection (1) or found during a search under subsection (2) for as long as the member reasonably believes it to be necessary for reasons of national security or reasonably believes it to be evidence of or relating to an offence referred to in subsection (2)(c).

(4) An immigration officer or an officer of the Minister may examine a document produced under subsection (1) or found during a search under subsection (2) and shall, where the officer reasonably believes the document to relate to matters of national security or to be evidence of or relating to an offence referred to in subsection (2)(c), give the document to a member of An Garda Síochána as soon as practicable after it is produced or found and may retain the document only for so long as is necessary to give the document to the member.

(5) A member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister may examine and retain a document produced under subsection (1) or found during a search under subsection (2) for as long as the member or officer considers it reasonably necessary to assist in—

(a) the examination of an application for international protection under Part 7 ,

(b) the consideration of an appeal under Part 8 , or

(c) the carrying out of a return under Part 11 .

(6) An applicant shall, if so required by a member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister, provide all reasonable assistance in relation to the operation of any devices in which documents are or may be stored or access to the documents stored in those devices, including—

(a) providing the documents to a member or officer in a form in which the documents can be taken away and in which the documents are, or can be made, legible and comprehensible,

(b) giving to a member or officer any password necessary to make the relevant documents concerned legible and comprehensible, or

(c) otherwise enabling a member or officer to examine the relevant documents in a form in which the document is legible and comprehensible.

(7) A search of the applicant’s person under subsection (2) shall be carried out by a person of the same sex as the applicant and in full respect for the human dignity of the applicant and the applicant’s physical and psychological integrity.

(8) A member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister shall—

(a) inform the applicant of the reasons for the search before conducting the search,

(b) before conducting the search, give the applicant a warning, in a language that the applicant understands or is reasonably supposed to understand, that a failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) or (6) is an offence, and

(c) include a note of the reasons for the search in the applicant’s file.

(9) A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (6) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.