Dr Nessa Lynch Appointed to Ireland’s Policing and Community Safety Authority

3 Apr 2025

Dr Nessa Lynch of the School of Law at UCC has been appointed by the Government to the Policing and Community Safety Authority, which launched yesterday, Wednesday 2^nd April, as a result of the official commencement of the Policing and Community Safety Act. 

The landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 was commenced yesterday by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. 

This legislation is a landmark reform of the oversight and accountability of policing and security in Ireland. The new Authority replaces the former Policing Authority and Garda Síochána Inspectorate and is part of a new regulatory framework which includes, for the first time, specific oversight of national security legislation and arrangements and a new role of Police Ombudsman.

Dr Lynch is the only academic to be appointed to any of the new regulatory bodies.  

A graduate of UCC, Dr Lynch returned to UCC last April to take up the Matheson Lectureship in Law, Innovation and Technology. She spent most of her career in New Zealand, as an academic, in consulting, and more recently as a senior leader in New Zealand Police

Dr Lynch says:

‘I am honoured to be trusted with this role. I am looking forward to contributing my expertise to the work of the Authority, particularly in regulation and assurance of emerging technology, and human rights and policing’.