Five year legislative review

The phrase ‘member of the public’ is currently defined only in Department of Justice guidance and states that a complaint can only be made by someone who is directly connected to an incident which is being complained about.

Police officers are not included currently in that guidance as ‘members of the public’ and they cannot complain about the conduct of another police officer to the Police Ombudsman. 

The PSNI has internal protocols for dealing with complaints from members of the public, including anonymous complaints. The Chief Constable can also refer potential criminality or misconduct to the Police Ombudsman where it has not been brought to the Office’s attention via a complaint by a ‘member of the public’.

We believe that legislation, rather than guidance, should provide a definition of ‘a member of the public’ as the person connected to or affected by an incident which is being complained about.

We also believe that police officers should be included as a ‘member of the public’ when not acting in their capacity as PSNI officers.

Including the definition in legislation provides clarity for members of the public who may wish to make a complaint.

In Ireland, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 states that a complaint can be made by, or on behalf of, a member of the public who has been directly affected by, or who has witnessed, the act or omission that is the subject of the relevant complaint. This excludes the serving Garda Commissioner, serving members of AGS, and garda staff (if the act or omission is connected with their employment as a staff member) from making complaints as members of the public.

However, feedback as part of the 2020 legislative review suggested that police officers should, in certain limited circumstances, have the ability to make complaints to the Police Ombudsman. This would allow for cases, where a serving police officer has been affected by another officer’s conduct (outside the employment context) to be a ‘member of the public’ and reflects the principle of equivalency.