The Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2015
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2015/626 |
| Year | 2015 |
2015No. 626
POLICE, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2015
9thMarch2015
12thMarch2015
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 50, 51 and 84 of the Police Act 1996( 1).
In accordance with section 63(3)(a) of the Police Act 1996( 2), the Secretary of State supplied a draft of these Regulations to the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales and has taken into consideration the representations of the Board before making these Regulations.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), come into force on 1st May 2015.
(2) Regulation 4 comes into force on 13th March 2015.
(3) Regulation 5 comes into force on 1st January 2016.
(4) In these Regulations "the 2012 Regulations" means the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012( 3)".
Amendment to the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012
2. The 2012 Regulations are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 19.
3. In regulation 3-
(a) in the definition of "document" omit "or images";
(b) after the definition of "proposed witness" insert-
""protected disclosure" has the meaning given to it by section 43A of the Employment Rights Act 1996( 4);";
(c) in the definition of "Standards of Professional Behaviour" after "means" insert ", subject to paragraph (9) of this regulation,";
(d) after paragraph (8) insert-
"(9) For the purposes of these Regulations, the making of a protected disclosure by a police officer is not a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.".
4. In regulation 10A-
(a) in paragraph (2) for "paragraph (3)" substitute "paragraphs (2A) and (3)";
(b) after paragraph (2), insert-
"(2A) Paragraph (2) does not apply to a matter that came to the attention of the appropriate authority before 12th January 2015.".
5. In regulation 25 for paragraphs (4) and (5) substitute-
"(4) Where the case is referred to a misconduct hearing, that hearing shall be conducted by a panel of three persons appointed by the appropriate authority, comprising-
(a) a chair selected by the appropriate authority who satisfies the judicial appointment eligibility condition( 5) on a 5-year basis and has been nominated by a local policing body for the purposes of these Regulations;
(b) a member of a police force of the rank of superintendent or above (provided the member is of a more senior rank than the officer concerned); and
(c) a person selected by the appropriate authority from a list of candidates maintained by a local policing body for the purposes of these Regulations.".
6. In regulation 26(2)(a) for "criterion" substitute "condition".
7. After regulation 27 insert-
"Notification of misconduct hearings
27A.
-(1) The person chairing a misconduct hearing may require notice of the hearing to be given which contains information relating to one or more of-
(a) the name of the officer concerned;
(b) the date of the hearing;
(c) the time of the hearing;
(d) the place at which the hearing will take place; and
(e) the conduct that is the subject matter of the case and how that conduct is alleged to amount to misconduct or gross misconduct as the case may be, as set out in the notice given in accordance with regulation 21(1)(a)(ii).
(2) Where the person chairing a misconduct hearing requires notice to be given in accordance with paragraph (1), the appropriate authority shall publish the notice on its website no less than 5 working days before the day on which the hearing begins.
(3) Any person to whom this paragraph applies may make written representations to the person chairing the misconduct hearing in relation to-
(a) whether, and (if so) the extent to which, the person chairing the misconduct hearing should exclude any person from the whole or part of the hearing under regulation 31(6)(a);
(b) whether the person chairing the misconduct hearing should impose any conditions under regulation 31(6)(b);
(c) in the light of the representations made under sub-paragraphs (a) and (b)-
(i) whether the person chairing the misconduct hearing should require notice to be given under paragraph (1);
(ii) which types of information mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) to (e) should be included in any such notice.
(4) Paragraph (3) applies to-
(a) the officer concerned;
(b) the appropriate authority;
(c) the complainant;
(d) any interested person;
(e) any witness;
(f) the Commission.
(5) Any written representations made in accordance with paragraph (3) must be provided no later than the date specified by the person chairing the misconduct hearing for provision of such representations.".
8. In regulation 30-
(a) in paragraph (3)-
(i) after "regulation 32 and" omit "any conditions imposed under";
(ii) for "31(8)" substitute "31(6)"; and
(iii) for "proceedings" substitute "meeting";
(b) in paragraph (4)-
(i) for "Subject to paragraph (5), regulation 32 and any conditions imposed under regulation 31(8)" substitute "Subject to regulation 31(6) and (7) and regulation 32"; and
(ii) after "accompanied" insert "at a misconduct meeting";
(c) omit paragraphs (5) and (6).
9. For regulation 31 substitute-
"31.
-(1) Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7) and regulation 32, a misconduct hearing shall be in public.
(2) Subject to regulations 29 and 30 and the provisions of this regulation, a misconduct meeting shall be in private.
(3) A person nominated by the Commission may, as an observer, attend a misconduct meeting which arises from a case to which-
(a) paragraph 17, 18 or 19 of Schedule 3 to the 2002 Act (supervised, managed and independent investigations) applied; or
(b) paragraph 16 of Schedule 3 to the 2002 Act (investigations by the appropriate authority) applied and in relation to which the Commission-
(i) made a recommendation under paragraph 27(3) of that Schedule (duties with respect to disciplinary proceedings) which the appropriate authority accepted; or
(ii) gave a direction under paragraph 27(4)(a) of that Schedule (duties with respect to disciplinary proceedings).
(4) Subject to any contrary decision by the person conducting or chairing a misconduct meeting, a witness other than a complainant, interested person or the officer concerned, shall only attend the misconduct meeting for the purpose of giving their evidence.
(5) The person conducting or chairing a misconduct meeting may, at his discretion, permit a witness in the misconduct meeting to be accompanied at that meeting by one other person.
(6) The person conducting or chairing the misconduct proceedings may-
(a) in relation to the attendance at the proceedings of a person under regulation 30 or this regulation, exclude any person as he sees fit from the whole or a part of those proceedings; and
(b) impose such conditions as he sees fit...
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