Police Law Blog European Decisions Statutory Materials

NPCC Operational Guidance for pre-charge bail

The National Police Chiefs Counsel has released updated operational guidance reinforcing pre-charge bail as a legitimate tool in investigating crime and protecting the public following a decrease its use since 2017. The NPCC states the following: Legislative changes to pre-charge bail through the Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced the presumption that suspects should be released […]

Not discrimination to pay male officers less for shared parental leave than female officers on maternity leave

The Court of Appeal in (1) Capita Customer Management Ltd v Ali & (2) Chief Constable of Leicestershire v Hextall [2019] EWCA Civ 900, has overturned the Employment Appeal Tribunal and held that employees do not unlawfully discriminate against men when when paying them less for shared parental leave than they pay women when taking enhanced maternity […]

Unlawful arrest – inadequate grounds for suspecting person to be guilty of an offence

Where a court finds a wrongful arrest, it is often due to inadequate grounds for belief in its necessity. However, a brief judgment in Smith v Police Service for Northern Ireland [2019] NIQB 39 is a demonstration of where there is a lack of reasonable suspicion that the person arrested has, themselves, committed the offence. Also […]

No necessity to arrest where person voluntarily attended police station

Every police officer knows they must have a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed an offence in order to arrest them. But that is only half of what is required. The second element is that they must have a reasonable belief in the necessity for the person’s arrest. The recent decision of Commissioner of […]