65.— (1) In this section, “prisoner” means a person who is detained in custody in a designated state—

(a) under a sentence or order of a court exercising criminal jurisdiction in that state, or

(b) having been transferred there from the State under section 5 (issue of warrants for the transfer of sentenced prisoners outside State) of the Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners Act 1995 F69[or under section 22 (transfer warrant for removal of sentenced person from State) of the Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Custodial Sentences) Act 2023].

(2) Where—

(a) a witness order has been made or a witness summons issued in criminal proceedings in respect of a prisoner, or

(b) it appears to the Minister that it is desirable for a prisoner to be identified in, or otherwise to assist by his or her presence, such proceedings or a criminal investigation,

the Minister, at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions or a person charged in any such proceedings, may issue a warrant providing for the prisoner to be transferred to the State.

(3) A warrant shall not be issued unless the appropriate authority in the designated state concerned provides a written statement by the prisoner consenting to be transferred for that purpose.

(4) A warrant issued under this section shall be transmitted by the Central Authority to the authority in the designated state that appears to the Central Authority to be the appropriate authority for receiving it, together with a request for the transfer of the prisoner to the State.

(5) The warrant is authority for—

(a) bringing the prisoner to the State,

(b) taking the prisoner to, and detaining him or her in, a prison,

(c) taking the prisoner to and from the place where the prisoner’s evidence is to be heard, and

(d) returning the prisoner in custody to the designated state.

(6) A prisoner is deemed to be in lawful custody while in the State.

(7) A prisoner who escapes from custody or is unlawfully at large may be arrested without warrant by a member of the Garda Síochána and taken in custody to a prison.

(8) A person (other than a member of the Garda Síochána) who is authorised to have custody of a prisoner by or for the purposes of a warrant under this section is deemed to be such a member for the purposes of this section.

(9) The law relating to—

(a) the control of entry into the State of non-nationals (within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1999),

(b) the duration and conditions of their stay in the State,

(c) their obligations while in the State, and

(d) their removal from the State,

does not apply in relation to a prisoner who is a non-national while he or she is present in the State in pursuance of a warrant under this section but, if the warrant ceases to have effect while the prisoner is so present, that law shall thereupon apply, with any necessary modifications, in relation to him or her.

(10) A prisoner while in the State pursuant to the warrant may not be proceeded against, sentenced, detained or subjected to any other restriction on his or her personal freedom in respect of any offence committed before arriving in the State.