Five year legislative review

What is the current position?

All police disciplinary hearings are held in private at PSNI venues. The case is presented to the disciplinary panel by a PSNI officer and the panels have no lay membership.

What we propose

We believe that legislation should be amended to provide a new composition for police disciplinary panels including a legally qualified chair, with lay and police representative membership.

We also believe that where the chair in the police disciplinary and appeals panels deems it is in the public interest, that the hearing should be held in public.

We believe that the lay membership list should be maintained by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to ensure eligibility criteria and indemnity issues are managed independently.

Why is it important?

In England and Wales, police disciplinary panels were comprised of a legally qualified chair and two members, one from a policing background and the other a lay person. This is no longer the case. Feedback suggests that this change is viewed as a retrograde step.

An increased lay involvement in panels would increase the public’s trust and confidence in the police complaints system.

Further, senior police officers (currently Assistant Chief Constable and above) spend significant time preparing for and attending disciplinary panels. This causes delays, as well as using valuable senior officer time.

Being mindful of the particular security concerns that pertain to Northern Ireland, the determination to hold a public hearing could be left to the discretion of the legally qualified chair as to when it is in the public interest to do so.

This approach to greater independence in disciplinary proceedings has also been adopted by a number of other professions. For instance, all medical and social care fitness to practice hearings are held in public and the panels are comprised of lay members and have a legally qualified chair.