rank up to and including chief superintendent, sets in hand the necessary investigations and, in the light of the ensuing report from the investigating officer, decides whether the officer in question is to be charged with a disciplinary offence. For more senior ranks, the disciplinary authority is the police authority which is the relevant local authority. When a charge is made, the officer appears at a disciplinary hearing before his chief constable who has power, on finding guilt, to impose a punishment ranging from caution to dismissal from the force. The punishment of dismissal, requirement to resign or reduction in rank cannot be awarded by the chief constable unless the officer has been given the opportunity to elect to be legally represented at the hearing by counsel or a solicitor. In 1984, 244 police discipline cases were dealt with; the corresponding figures for 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 were 254, 265, 316 and 298.
95. In cases where it may reasonably be inferred that a constable has committed a criminal offence, the deputy chief constable is required to refer the matter as soon as possible for investigation by the Procurator Fiscal, who is independent of the police and acts impartially on behalf of the Crown. All these procedures are statutorily prescribed. The Procurator Fiscal will consider all the evidence before him and decide whether or not criminal proceedings should be taken. In reaching his decision, he may seek direction from Crown Counsel (senior legal advisers to the Lord Advocate). Thus the independent position and the active investigatory role of the Procurator Fiscal in cases involving possible criminal offences are seen as providing a full safeguard against any suspicion of police partiality in Scotland. A criminal conviction would not affect any decision to proceed with disciplinary proceedings. In circumstances where a case has not proceeded to trial or has resulted in an acquittal, it is still open to the deputy chief constable to pursue a disciplinary charge against a constable provided it complies with the terms of the regulations.
Police disciplinary procedures - Northern Ireland
96. In Northern Ireland, the police discipline code is set out in schedule 1 of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (Discipline and Disciplinary Appeals) Regulations 1988. These regulations were framed in light of the provisions made by the Police (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, which introduced procedures for handling complaints about the conduct of police officers and which were broadly in line with the new procedures introduced for England and Wales by section IX of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
97.
The 1987 Order established the independent Commission for Police Complaints for Northern Ireland, whose powers and function are broadly similar to those of the Police Complaints Authority for England and Wales. However, the Independent Commission has been given additional powers to reflect the particular circumstances of policing in Northern Ireland. For example, the Commission automatically receives copies of all complaints requiring formal investigation and can therefore "call in" those cases in which it may exercise its discretionary power to supervise the investigations; it can monitor the informal resolution of minor complaints; and it can supervise the investigation of any matter, not the subject of a complaint, which is referred to it by the Chief Constable, the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, or the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
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