NI: Police Complaints Review
01 May 1995
The Independent Commission for Police Complaints was established under the Police (Northern Ireland) Order of 1987 and replaced the Police Complaints Board. The ICPC is made up of people appointed by the Secretary of State and it supervises the RUC's Complaints and Discipline Branch which consists of about 120 officers of inspector rank or above. It is rare for complaints to result in disciplinary proceedings or prosecutions. Most complaints are withdrawn or dismissed as being incapable of investigation (60% in 1991). When cases are fully investigated, less than 10% are substantiated and result in some for of action, disciplinary or legal, against an officer. In 1991, the Director of Public Prosecutions brought only nine criminal charges as a result of complaints that year. Disciplinary charges were lodged in five cases only.
The ICPC is required to carry out a review of the complaints system at least every three years. The Commission's Second Triennial Review was published in March 1994 and one year later, the Secretary of State has responded to its recommendations. Two recommendations have been accepted in full. Firstly, a tribunal is to be established to hear disciplinary charges. It will be chaired by the Chief Constable supported by two independent assessors drawn from a panel. Secondly there is to be a review of the use of the "informal resolution" procedure - about 10% of cases are dealt with in this way (compared to 30% in Britain).
The Secretary of State has also accepted that the ICPC should be notified immediately of any deaths which may have been caused by a police officer, but not of injuries. He rejected, however, the recommendation that the Commission should be in a position to direct the Chief Constable to record a complaint where there is a dispute over its validity: "The autonomy of Chief Constables in discharging their responsibilities to maintain law and order within their areas is an important constitutional issue". The Secretary of State also rejected the proposal that the Commission should be given the discretion to concentrate its limited resources on those cases which are "of public concern and deserving of close scrutiny".