Time to go? Compulsory retirement of police officers.

Written by: Rad Kohanzad
Published: 14 September 2015

It is a legitimate aim for police forces “to achieve efficiency by reducing officer numbers with certainty”.

Police Forces had no other means of achieving certainty in their staff reductions other than by the use of A19, due to the limited ways in which officers can be dismissed.

This finding demonstrates that the crucial question of whether a PCP is justified may depend on how the “legitimate aim” is phrased.

Sitting in detention

Written by: Elliot Gold
Published: 8 September 2015

In the recent decision in Zenati v (1) Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (2) Crown Prosecution Service [2015] EWCA Civ 80; [2015] QB 758, the Court of Appeal held, for the first time, that the police may be liable to a suspect remanded in custody for a breach of Article 5 where they fail to provide the court with all relevant, material information when the court makes a decision to remand the suspect in custody; to act with expedition when conducting ongoing investigations or when responding to requests from the CPS whilst the suspect remains remanded in custody.

Identifying disability

Written by: Rad Kohanzad
Published: 17 August 2015

When ought an officer be treated as being disabled for the purposes of making adjustments under the Equality Act 2010?

The relevance of restricted duties, substantive adverse affect, whether the condition is long term and the impact of adjustments and treatments.

Police duty of care to witnesses

Written by: Elliot Gold
Published: 3 August 2015

The taking of witness statements by the police and the making of applications for witness summons’ falls within the core immunity in Hill;

Such actions do not demonstrate a voluntary assumption by the police of a particular duty of care to the maker of the statement;

Article 8 provides no greater protection than article 2 and it will be difficult for a Claimant to succeed only on the former.

Publicising Disciplinary Procedures

Written by: George Thomas
Published: 20 July 2015

From 1st May 2015, most of the provisions of the Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 come into effect.

The 2015 Amendment Regulations make changes to the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”).

The major change is that misconduct hearings will now be held wholly or partly in public. Previously this was only exceptionally the case. This is a very significant legal and practical change.

An additional significant change is that the 2012 Regulations now specify that a police officer who makes a protected disclosure (as defined in the Employment Rights Act 1996) is not to be regarded as breaching the Standards of Professional Behaviour.