The Ministry of Defence Police (Conduct) Regulations 2004

Regulation 2.

SCHEDULE 1 CODE OF CONDUCT

Honesty and integrity

1.  Members of the force should so conduct themselves as to uphold public faith in the honesty and integrity of the force, and accordingly they should—

(a) be open and truthful in their dealings,

(b) avoid being improperly beholden to any person or institution, and

(c) discharge their duties with integrity.

Fairness and impartiality

2.  Members of the force have a particular responsibility to act with fairness and impartiality in all their dealings with the public and their colleagues.

Politeness and tolerance

3.  Members of the force should treat members of the public and colleagues with courtesy and respect, avoiding abusive or derisory attitudes or behaviour. In particular, they must avoid—

(a) favouritism of an individual or group,

(b) all forms of harassment, victimisation or unreasonable discrimination, and

(c) overbearing conduct to a colleague, particularly to one junior in rank or service.

Use of force

4.  Members of the force must never knowingly use more force than is reasonable.

Abuse of authority

5.  Members of the force must not abuse their authority.

Performance of duties

6.—(1) Members of the force should be conscientious and diligent in the performance of their duties.

(2) Members of the force should attend work promptly when rostered for duty.

(3) If absent from duty through sickness or injury, members of the force should avoid activities likely to retard their return to duty.

Lawful orders

7.—(1) Unless there is good and sufficient cause to do otherwise, members of the force must obey all lawful orders.

(2) Members of the force should support their colleagues in the execution of their lawful duties.

(3) Members of the force should oppose any improper behaviour by their colleagues and report it where appropriate.

Confidentiality

8.—(1) Members of the force should treat information which comes into the possession of the police as confidential.

(2) Such information should not be used for personal benefit or divulged to other parties except in the proper course of police duty.

(3) Members of the force should respect as confidential information about policy and operations of the force unless authorised to disclose it in the course of their duties.

Criminal offences

9.—(1) Members of the force must report any proceedings for a criminal offence taken against them to the chief constable.

(2) Conviction of a criminal offence may of itself result in further action being taken.

Property

10.  Members of the force must exercise reasonable care to prevent loss of or damage to property (including police property).

Sobriety

11.—(1) Whilst on duty members of the force must be sober.

(2) Members of the force should not consume alcohol when on duty unless they are specifically authorised to do so or it becomes necessary for the proper discharge of police duty.

Appearance

12.  Unless on duties which dictate otherwise, members of the force should always be well turned out, clean and tidy whilst on duty in uniform or in plain clothes.

General conduct

13.  Whether on or off duty, members of the force should not behave in a way which is likely to bring discredit upon the police service.

Notes:—

(a) The primary duties of those who hold the office of constable in the force are the protection of life and property, the preservation of the Queen’s peace, and the prevention and detection of criminal offences. To fulfil these duties they are granted extraordinary powers; the public and the police service therefore have the right to expect the highest standards of conduct from them.

(b) This Code sets out the principles which guide the conduct of members of the force. It does not seek to restrict their discretion: rather it aims to define the parameters of conduct within which that discretion should be exercised. However, it is important to note that any breach of the principles in this Code may result in action being taken by the force, which, in serious cases, could involve dismissal.

(c) This Code applies to the conduct of members of the force in all ranks whilst on duty, or whilst off duty if the conduct is serious enough to indicate that a member is not fit to be a member of the force. It will be applied in a reasonable and objective manner. Due regard will be paid to the degree of negligence or deliberate fault and to the nature and circumstances of a member’s conduct. Where off duty conduct is in question, this will be measured against the generally accepted standards of the day.

Regulation 38.

SCHEDULE 2 SPECIAL CASES: MODIFICATIONS

1.  For regulations 11 and 12 there is substituted—

“Return of case to supervising officer

11.— (1) At any time after a case has been referred to a hearing but before the beginning of the hearing, the appropriate officer may direct that the case be returned to the supervising officer.

(2) Where a case is so returned, the supervising officer must deal with it in the way he would have done if he had not formed the opinion that the case was one in respect of which the conditions specified in regulation 38(2) and (3) were likely to be met.

Notice of decision to refer case to a hearing

12.— (1) Where it is decided to refer a case to a hearing, the supervising officer must ensure that, as soon as is reasonably practicable, the member concerned is invited to an interview with the appropriate officer at which he is given written notice of that decision and is supplied with copies of—

(a) that decision,

(b) a notice in writing that he may elect to be legally represented at the hearing and of the effect of section 4(1) to (3) of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987 (representation at disciplinary hearings),

(c) the certificate issued under regulation 10(5)(a),

(d) any statement he has made to the investigating officer or the appropriate officer, and

(e) any relevant statement, document or other material obtained during the course of the investigation.

(2) The notice of the decision to refer the case to a hearing must specify—

(a) the conduct of the member concerned which it is alleged failed to meet the appropriate standard,

(b) the paragraph of the Code of Conduct in respect of which the appropriate standard is alleged not to have been met.

(3) Where the member concerned fails or is unable to attend the interview referred to in paragraph (1), the notice and copy documents referred to in that paragraph must be—

(a) delivered to the member concerned personally, or

(b) left with some person at, or sent by recorded delivery to, the address at which he is residing.

(4) In this regulation any reference to a copy of a statement is to be construed in any case where the statement was not made in writing as a reference to a copy of an account of it.”.

2.  For regulations 14 to 16 there is substituted—

“Notice of hearing

14.   The appropriate officer must fix a date for the hearing (which must be not less than 21 and not more than 28 days from the date on which notice under regulation 12(1) is given, delivered, left or sent in accordance with regulation 12) and, as soon as he has done so, he must ensure that the member concerned is notified immediately in writing of the time, date and place of the hearing.

Procedure on receipt of notice

15.   The member concerned must be invited to state in writing, within 14 days of the date on which he receives the notice and copy documents referred to in regulation 12(1)—

(a) whether or not he accepts that his conduct did not meet the appropriate standard,

(b) whether or not he wishes to be legally represented at the hearing.

Officer conducting the hearing

16.— (1) A case which is referred to a hearing under regulation 10(5)(a) must be heard by the chief constable, unless he is an interested party.

(2) If the chief constable is an interested party, the case must be heard by the chief officer of some other police force who has agreed to act in that capacity.”.

3.  Regulation 17 is omitted.

4.  For regulation 18 there is substituted—

“Documents to be supplied to the officer conducting the hearing

18.   There must be supplied to the officer conducting the hearing a copy of the notice and copy documents referred to in regulation 12(1).”.

5.  In regulation 19(1) (representation) for “supervising” there is substituted “appropriate”.

6.  For regulation 20 there is substituted—

“Conduct of hearing

20.— (1) The officer conducting the hearing may adjourn the hearing if it appears to him to be necessary or expedient to do so for the due hearing of the case.

(2) But that officer must not—

(a) exercise the power to adjourn more than once, or

(b) adjourn for longer than a period of one week or, on an application by the member concerned, 4 weeks,

unless it appears to him to be necessary to do so.”.

7.  In regulation 21—

(a) for the word “officers”, in each place it occurs, there is substituted the word “officer”, and

(b) in paragraph (1) for the word “their” there is substituted the word “his”.

8.  For regulation 23 there is substituted—

“Attendance of complainant at hearing

23.— (1) This regulation applies where there has been a complaint against the member concerned.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in regulation 24(1), but subject to paragraphs (3) and (4)—

(a) the complainant may attend the hearing, and

(b) the complainant may at the discretion of the officer conducting the hearing be accompanied by a friend or relative.

(3) The complainant and any person allowed to accompany him must neither intervene in, nor interrupt, the hearing.

(4) If the complainant or any person allowed to accompany him behaves in a disorderly or abusive manner, or otherwise misconducts himself, the officer conducting the hearing may exclude him from the remainder of the hearing.

(5) In this regulation references to the complainant are references to the originator of the complaint, notwithstanding that it was transmitted to the chief constable by some other person or by the Authority or some other body.”.

9.  In regulation 24—

(a) in paragraph (1) for the words “paragraphs (2) to (4)” there are substituted the words “paragraphs (2) and (3)”,

(b) paragraph (4) is omitted, and

(c) in paragraph (5) for the words “paragraph (1), (3) or (4)” there are substituted the words “paragraph (1) or (3)”.

10.  Regulation 25 is omitted.

11.  For regulations 26 and 27 there is substituted—

“Admissibility of evidence

26.— (1) Subject to paragraph (3), any question whether any evidence is admissible must be determined by the officer conducting the hearing.

(2) That officer may allow any document to be adduced in evidence during the hearing, notwithstanding that a copy of it has not been supplied to the member concerned in accordance with regulation 12, if the member concerned consents.

(3) No witness may be called by either party to the case.

Remission of cases

27.   –

(1) If the chief constable is an interested party, the case must be remitted to the chief officer of some other police force (not being an interested party) who has agreed to act in that capacity.

(2) Where, either before or during the hearing, the officer conducting the hearing considers it appropriate to do so, he may return the case to the supervising officer, who must deal with it in the way he would have done had he not formed the opinion that the case was one in respect of which the conditions specified in regulation 38(2) and (3) were likely to be met.

(3) Where the officer conducting the hearing remits a case under this regulation, he must not give any indication to the supervising officer to whom it is remitted of his assessment of the case or of the sanction that should be imposed.”.

12.  In regulation 29(1)—

(a) for the words “officers”, in the first place it occurs, there is substituted the word “officer”, and

(b) for the words “those officers decide” there are substituted the words “that officer decides”.

13.  In regulation 30—

(a) in paragraph (a) for the word “officers”, in each place it occurs, and the words “may receive evidence from any witness whose evidence would” there are substituted respectively the words “officer” and “may admit such documentary evidence as would”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) after the word “adduce” there is inserted the word “documentary”.

14.  In regulation 31 for the words “seven working days” there are substituted the words “three working days”.

15.  For regulation 33, there is substituted—

“The reviewing officer

33.   The review must be conducted by the chief officer of some other police force (not being an interested party) who has agreed to act in that capacity.”.

16.  At the end of regulation 35 there is added—

“(5) Where the reviewing officer considers that the officer conducting the hearing should have returned the case to the supervising officer under regulation 27, he must so return the case and the case is deemed to have been returned under that regulation.”.

17.  Regulation 36 is omitted.