Office of Public Sector Information
(1) There shall be a body corporate to be known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (in this Part referred to as “the Commission”).
(2) The Commission shall consist of—
(a) a chairman appointed by Her Majesty; and
(b) not less than ten other members appointed by the Secretary of State.
(3) A person shall not be appointed as the chairman of the Commission, or as another member of the Commission, if—
(a) he holds or has held office as a constable in any part of the United Kingdom;
(b) he is or has been under the direction and control of a chief officer or of any person holding an equivalent office in Scotland or Northern Ireland;
(c) he is a person in relation to whom a designation under section 39 is or has been in force;
(d) he is a person in relation to whom an accreditation under section 41 is or has been in force;
(e) he is or has been a member of the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the National Crime Squad; or
(f) he is or has at any time been a member of a body of constables which at the time of his membership is or was a body of constables in relation to which any procedures are or were in force by virtue of an agreement or order under—
(i) section 26 of this Act; or
(ii) section 78 of the 1996 Act or section 96 of the 1984 Act (which made provision corresponding to that made by section 26 of this Act).
(4) An appointment made in contravention of subsection (3) shall have no effect.
(5) The Commission shall not—
(a) be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown; or
(b) enjoy any status, privilege or immunity of the Crown;
and the Commission’s property shall not be regarded as property of, or property held on behalf of, the Crown.
(6) Schedule 2 (which makes further provision in relation to the Commission) shall have effect.
(7) The Police Complaints Authority shall cease to exist on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.
(1) The functions of the Commission shall be—
(a) to secure the maintenance by the Commission itself, and by police authorities and chief officers, of suitable arrangements with respect to the matters mentioned in subsection (2);
(b) to keep under review all arrangements maintained with respect to those matters;
(c) to secure that arrangements maintained with respect to those matters comply with the requirements of the following provisions of this Part, are efficient and effective and contain and manifest an appropriate degree of independence;
(d) to secure that public confidence is established and maintained in the existence of suitable arrangements with respect to those matters and with the operation of the arrangements that are in fact maintained with respect to those matters;
(e) to make such recommendations, and to give such advice, for the modification of the arrangements maintained with respect to those matters, and also of police practice in relation to other matters, as appear, from the carrying out by the Commission of its other functions, to be necessary or desirable; and
(f) to such extent as it may be required to do so by regulations made by the Secretary of State, to carry out functions in relation to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad and bodies of constables maintained otherwise than by police authorities which broadly correspond to those conferred on the Commission in relation to police forces by the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.
(2) Those matters are—
(a) the handling of complaints made about the conduct of persons serving with the police;
(b) the recording of matters from which it appears that there may have been conduct by such persons which constitutes or involves the commission of a criminal offence or behaviour justifying disciplinary proceedings;
(c) the manner in which any such complaints or any such matters as are mentioned in paragraph (b) are investigated or otherwise handled and dealt with.
(3) The Commission shall also have the functions which are conferred on it by—
(a) any regulations under section 39 or 83 of the 1997 Act (complaints etc. against members of NCIS and NCS);
(b) any agreement or order under section 26 of this Act (other bodies of constables);
(c) any regulations under section 39 of this Act (police powers for contracted-out staff); or
(d) any regulations or arrangements relating to disciplinary or similar proceedings against persons serving with the police, or against members of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad or any body of constables maintained otherwise than by a police authority.
(4) It shall be the duty of the Commission—
(a) to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred on it by the following provisions of this Part in the manner that it considers best calculated for the purpose of securing the proper carrying out of its functions under subsections (1) and (3); and
(b) to secure that arrangements exist which are conducive to, and facilitate, the reporting of misconduct by persons in relation to whose conduct the Commission has functions.
(5) It shall also be the duty of the Commission—
(a) to enter into arrangements with the chief inspector of constabulary for the purpose of securing co-operation, in the carrying out of their respective functions, between the Commission and the inspectors of constabulary; and
(b) to provide those inspectors with all such assistance and co-operation as may be required by those arrangements, or as otherwise appears to the Commission to be appropriate, for facilitating the carrying out by those inspectors of their functions.
(6) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, the Commission may do anything which appears to it to be calculated to facilitate, or is incidental or conducive to, the carrying out of its functions.
(7) The Commission may, in connection with the making of any recommendation or the giving of any advice to any person for the purpose of carrying out—
(a) its function under subsection (1)(e), or
(b) any corresponding function conferred on it by virtue of subsection (1)(f),
impose any such charge on that person for anything done by the Commission for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of that function as it thinks fit.
(8) Nothing in this Part shall confer any function on the Commission in relation to so much of any complaint or conduct matter as relates to the direction and control of a police force by—
(a) the chief officer of police of that force; or
(b) a person for the time being carrying out the functions of the chief officer of police of that force.
(1) As soon as practicable after the end of each of its financial years, the Commission shall make a report to the Secretary of State on the carrying out of its functions during that year.
(2) The Commission shall also make such reports to the Secretary of State about matters relating generally to the carrying out of its functions as he may, from time to time, require.
(3) The Commission may, from time to time, make such other reports to the Secretary of State as it considers appropriate for drawing his attention to matters which—
(a) have come to the Commission’s notice; and
(b) are matters that it considers should be drawn to his attention by reason of their gravity or of other exceptional circumstances.
(4) The Commission shall prepare such reports containing advice and recommendations as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of carrying out—
(a) its function under subsection (1)(e) of section 10; or
(b) any corresponding function conferred on it by virtue of subsection (1)(f) of that section.
(5) Where the Secretary of State receives any report under this section, he shall—
(a) in the case of every annual report under subsection (1), and
(b) in the case of any other report, if and to the extent that he considers it appropriate to do so,
lay a copy of the report before Parliament and cause the report to be published.
(6) The Commission shall send a copy of every annual report under subsection (1)—
(a) to every police authority;
(b) to the Service Authority for the National Criminal Intelligence Service;
(c) to the Service Authority for the National Crime Squad;
(d) to every authority that is maintaining a body of constables in relation to which any procedures are for the time being in force by virtue of any agreement or order under section 26 or by virtue of subsection (9) of that section.
(7) The Commission shall send a copy of every report under subsection (3)—
(a) to any police authority that appears to the Commission to be concerned; and
(b) to the chief officer of police of any police force that appears to it to be concerned.
(8) Where a report under subsection (3) relates to the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the National Crime Squad, the Commission shall send a copy of that report—
(a) to the Service Authority for that Service or Squad; and
(b) to its Director General.
(9) Where a report under subsection (3) relates to a body of constables maintained by an authority other than a police authority, the Commission shall send a copy of that report—
(a) to that authority; and
(b) to the person having the direction and control of that body of constables.
(10) The Commission shall send a copy of every report under subsection (4)to—
(a) the Secretary of State;
(b) every police authority;
(c) every chief officer;
(d) the Service Authority for the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the Director General of that Service;
(e) the Service Authority for the National Crime Squad and the Director General of that Squad;
(f) every authority that is maintaining a body of constables in relation to which any procedures are for the time being in force by virtue of any agreement or order under section 26 or by virtue of subsection (9) of that section; and
(g) every person who has the direction and control of such a body of constables.
(11) The Commission shall send a copy of every report made or prepared by it under subsection (3) or (4) to such of the persons (in addition to those specified in the preceding subsections) who—
(a) are referred to in the report, or
(b) appear to the Commission otherwise to have a particular interest in its contents,
as the Commission thinks fit.
(1) In this Part references to a complaint are references (subject to the following provisions of this section) to any complaint about the conduct of a person serving with the police which is made (whether in writing or otherwise) by—
(a) a member of the public who claims to be the person in relation to whom the conduct took place;
(b) a member of the public not falling within paragraph (a) who claims to have been adversely affected by the conduct;
(c) a member of the public who claims to have witnessed the conduct;
(d) a person acting on behalf of a person falling within any of paragraphs (a) to (c).
(2) In this Part “conduct matter” means (subject to the following provisions of this section, paragraph 2(4) of Schedule 3 and any regulations made by virtue of section 23(2)(d)) any matter which is not and has not been the subject of a complaint but in the case of which there is an indication (whether from the circumstances or otherwise) that a person serving with the police may have—
(a) committed a criminal offence; or
(b) behaved in a manner which would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.
(3) The complaints that are complaints for the purposes of this Part by virtue of subsection (1)(b) do not, except in a case falling within subsection (4), include any made by or on behalf of a person who claims to have been adversely affected as a consequence only of having seen or heard the conduct, or any of the alleged effects of the conduct.
(4) A case falls within this subsection if—
(a) it was only because the person in question was physically present, or sufficiently nearby, when the conduct took place or the effects occurred that he was able to see or hear the conduct or its effects; or
(b) the adverse effect is attributable to, or was aggravated by, the fact that the person in relation to whom the conduct took place was already known to the person claiming to have suffered the adverse effect.
(5) For the purposes of this section a person shall be taken to have witnessed conduct if, and only if—
(a) he acquired his knowledge of that conduct in a manner which would make him a competent witness capable of giving admissible evidence of that conduct in criminal proceedings; or
(b) he has in his possession or under his control anything which would in any such proceedings constitute admissible evidence of that conduct.
(6) For the purposes of this Part a person falling within subsection 1(a) to (c) to shall not be taken to have authorised another person to act on his behalf unless—
(a) that other person is for the time being designated for the purposes of this Part by the Commission as a person through whom complaints may be made, or he is of a description of persons so designated; or
(b) the other person has been given, and is able to produce, the written consent to his so acting of the person on whose behalf he acts.
(7) For the purposes of this Part, a person is serving with the police if—
(a) he is a member of a police force;
(b) he is an employee of a police authority who is under the direction and control of a chief officer; or
(c) he is a special constable who is under the direction and control of a chief officer.
Schedule 3 (which makes provision for the handling of complaints and conduct matters and for the carrying out of investigations) shall have effect subject to section 14(1).
(1) Nothing in Schedule 3 shall have effect with respect to so much of any complaint as relates to the direction and control of a police force by—
(a) the chief officer of police of that force; or
(b) a person for the time being carrying out the functions of the chief officer of police of that force.
(2) The Secretary of State may issue guidance to chief officers and to police authorities about the handling of so much of any complaint as relates to the direction and control of a police force by such a person as is mentioned in subsection (1).
(3) It shall be the duty of a chief officer and of a police authority when handling any complaint relating to such a matter to have regard to any guidance issued under subsection (2).
(1) It shall be the duty of—
(a) every police authority maintaining a police force,
(b) the chief officer of police of every police force, and
(c) every inspector of constabulary carrying out any of his functions in relation to a police force,
to ensure that it or he is kept informed, in relation to that force, about all matters falling within subsection (2).
(2) Those matters are—
(a) matters with respect to which any provision of this Part has effect;
(b) anything which is done under or for the purposes of any such provision; and
(c) any obligations to act or refrain from acting that have arisen by or under this Part but have not yet been complied with, or have been contravened.
(3) Where—
(a) a police authority maintaining any police force requires the chief officer of that force or of any other force to provide a member of his force for appointment under paragraph 16, 17 or 18 of Schedule 3,
(b) the chief officer of police of any police force requires the chief officer of police of any other police force to provide a member of that other force for appointment under any of those paragraphs, or
(c) a police authority or chief officer requires the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the Director General of the National Crime Squad to provide a member of that Service or Squad for appointment under any of those paragraphs,
it shall be the duty of the chief officer or Director General to whom the requirement is addressed to comply with it.
(4) It shall be the duty of—
(a) every police authority maintaining a police force,
(b) the chief officer of police of every police force,
(c) the Service Authority for the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the Service Authority for the National Crime Squad, and
(d) the Directors General of that Service and of that Squad,
to provide the Commission and every member of the Commission’s staff with all such assistance as the Commission or that member of staff may reasonably require for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of any investigation by the Commission under this Part.
(5) It shall be the duty of—
(a) every police authority maintaining a police force,
(b) the chief officer of every police force,
(c) the Service Authorities for the National Criminal Intelligence Service and of the National Crime Squad, and
(d) the Directors General of that Service and of that Squad,
to ensure that a person appointed under paragraph 16, 17 or 18 of Schedule 3 to carry out an investigation is given all such assistance and co-operation in the carrying out of that investigation as that person may reasonably require
(6) The duties imposed by subsections (4) and (5) on a police authority maintaining a police force and on the chief officer of such a force and on the Directors General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and of the National Crime Squad have effect—
(a) irrespective of whether the investigation relates to the conduct of a person who is or has been a member of that force or of that Service or Squad; and
(b) irrespective of who has the person appointed to carry out the investigation under his direction and control;
but a chief officer of a third force may be required to give assistance and co-operation under subsection (5) only with the approval of the chief officer of the force to which the person who requires it belongs or, as the case may be, of the Director General of the Service or Squad to which that person belongs.
(7) In subsection (6) “third force”, in relation to an investigation, means a police force other than—
(a) the force to which the person carrying out the investigation belongs; or
(b) the force to which the person whose conduct is under investigation belonged at the time of the conduct;
and in this subsection references to a police force include references to the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the National Crime Squad.
(1) This section applies where—
(a) one police force is required to provide assistance to another in connection with an investigation under this Part; or
(b) a police force is required to provide assistance in such a connection to the Commission.
(2) For the purposes of this section—
(a) assistance is required to be provided by one police force to another in connection with an investigation under this Part if the chief officer of the first force (“the assisting force”) complies with a requirement under section 15 (3) or (5) that is made in connection with an investigation relating to the conduct of a person who, at the time of the conduct, was a member of the other force; and
(b) assistance is required to be provided in such a connection by a police force (“the assisting force”) to the Commission if the chief officer of that force complies with a requirement under section 15(4) that is made in connection with an investigation relating to the conduct of a person who, at the time of the conduct, was not a member of that force.
(3) Where the assistance is required to be provided by one police force to another, the police authority maintaining that other police force shall pay to the police authority maintaining the assisting force such contribution (if any) towards the costs of the assistance—
(a) as may be agreed between them; or
(b) in the absence of an agreement, as may be determined in accordance with any arrangements which—
(i) have been agreed to by police authorities generally; and
(ii) are for the time being in force with respect to the making of contributions towards the costs of assistance provided, in connection with investigations under this Part, by one police force to another; or
(c) in the absence of any such arrangements, as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
(4) Where the assistance is required to be provided by a police force to the Commission, the Commission shall pay to the police authority maintaining the assisting force such contribution (if any) towards the costs of the assistance—
(a) as may be agreed between the Commission and that authority; or
(b) in the absence of an agreement, as may be determined in accordance with any arrangements which—
(i) have been agreed to by police authorities generally and by the Commission; and
(ii) are for the time being in force with respect to the making of contributions towards the costs of assistance provided, in connection with investigations under this Part, to the Commission; or
(c) in the absence of any such arrangements, as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
(5) In this section (subject to subsection (6))—
(a) references to a police force include references to the National Criminal Intelligence Service and to the National Crime Squad; and
(b) in relation to that Service or Squad, references to the police authority maintaining it and to the chief officer are references, respectively, to the Service Authority and to the Director General.
(6) This section shall have effect in relation to cases in which assistance is required to be provided by the National Criminal Intelligence Service or National Crime Squad as if—
(a) the reference in subsection (3)(b) to police authorities generally included a reference to the Service Authority for that Service or, as the case may be, for that Squad; and
(b) the reference in subsection (4)(b) to police authorities generally were a reference to the Service Authority for that Service or, as the case may be, for that Squad.
(7) This section is without prejudice to the application of section 24 of the 1996 Act (assistance given voluntarily by one force to another) in a case in which assistance is provided, otherwise than in pursuance of any duty imposed by section 15 of this Act, in connection with an investigation under this Part.
(1) It shall be the duty of—
(a) every police authority, and
(b) every chief officer,
at such times, in such circumstances and in accordance with such other requirements as may be set out in regulations made by the Secretary of State, to provide the Commission with all such information and documents as may be specified or described in regulations so made.
(2) It shall also be the duty of every police authority and of every chief officer—
(a) to provide the Commission with all such other information and documents specified or described in a notification given by the Commission to that authority or chief officer, and
(b) to produce or deliver up to the Commission all such evidence and other things so specified or described,
as appear to the Commission to be required by it for the purposes of the carrying out of any of its functions.
(3) Anything falling to be provided, produced or delivered up by any person in pursuance of a requirement imposed under subsection (2) must be provided, produced or delivered up in such form, in such manner and within such period as may be specified in—
(a) the notification imposing the requirement; or
(b) in any subsequent notification given by the Commission to that person for the purposes of this subsection.
(4) Nothing in this section shall require a police authority or chief officer—
(a) to provide the Commission with any information or document, or to produce or deliver up any other thing, before the earliest time at which it is practicable for that authority or chief officer to do so; or
(b) to provide, produce or deliver up anything at all in a case in which it never becomes practicable for that authority or chief officer to do so.
(5) A requirement imposed by any regulations or notification under this section may authorise or require information or documents to which it relates to be provided to the Commission electronically.
(1) Where—
(a) the Commission requires—
(i) a police authority maintaining any police force, or
(ii) the chief officer of police of any such force,
to allow a person nominated for the purpose by the Commission to have access to any premises occupied for the purposes of that force and to documents and other things on those premises, and
(b) the requirement is imposed for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (2),
it shall be the duty of the authority or, as the case may be, of the chief officer to secure that the required access is allowed to the nominated person.
(2) Those purposes are—
(a) the purposes of any examination by the Commission of the efficiency and effectiveness of the arrangements made by the force in question for handling complaints or dealing with recordable conduct matters;
(b) the purposes of any investigation by the Commission under this Part or of any investigation carried out under its supervision or management.
(3) A requirement imposed under this section for the purposes mentioned in subsection (2)(a) must be notified to the authority or chief officer at least 48 hours before the time at which access is required.
(4) Where—
(a) a requirement imposed under this section for the purposes mentioned in subsection (2)(a) requires access to any premises, document or thing to be allowed to any person, but
(b) there are reasonable grounds for not allowing that person to have the required access at the time at which he seeks to have it,
the obligation to secure that the required access is allowed shall have effect as an obligation to secure that the access is allowed to that person at the earliest practicable time after there cease to be any such grounds as that person may specify.
(5) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and without prejudice to—
(a) the rights of entry, search and seizure that are or may be conferred on—
(i) a person designated for the purposes of paragraph 19 of Schedule 3, or
(ii) any person who otherwise acts on behalf of the Commission,
in his capacity as a constable or as a person with the powers and privileges of a constable; or
(b) the obligations of police authorities and chief officers under sections 15 and 17.
(1) The Secretary of State may by order make such provision as he thinks appropriate for the purpose of authorising—
(a) the use of directed and intrusive surveillance, and
(b) the conduct and use of covert human intelligence sources,
for the purposes of, or for purposes connected with, the carrying out of the Commission’s functions.
(2) An order under this section may, for the purposes of or in connection with any such provision as is mentioned in subsection (1), provide for—
(a) Parts 2 and 4 the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23) (surveillance and covert human intelligence sources and scrutiny of investigatory powers), and
(b) Part 3 of the 1997 Act (authorisations in respect of property),
to have effect with such modifications as may be specified in the order.
(3) The Secretary of State shall not make an order containing (with or without any other provision) any provision authorised by this section unless a draft of that order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.
(4) Expressions used in this section and in Part 2 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 have the same meanings in this section as in that Part.
(1) In any case in which there is an investigation of a complaint in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3—
(a) by the Commission, or
(b) under its management,
it shall be the duty of the Commission to provide the complainant with all such information as will keep him properly informed, while the investigation is being carried out and subsequently, of all the matters mentioned in subsection (4).
Police Reform Act 2002