With effect from 1 January 2016, the Police & Crime Commissioner is required to have nominated lawyers to chair Misconduct Hearings.
This is in respect of police officers (other than senior officers, in respect of whom other arrangements apply).
The law states that such proceedings should from that date be chaired by a person:
selected by the appropriate authority who satisfies the judicial appointment eligibility condition on a 5-year basis and has been nominated by a local policing body for the purposes of these Regulations
In practice, the force will select from a list of lawyers held by the OPCC for that purpose.
The Government issued supporting guidance set out at:
The process for appointment to the list was administered by the Cleveland OPCC on behalf of the seven OPCCs of the North East Region.
The region was delighted to receive a large number of applications of a high calibre.
A rigorous selection process was undertaken, concluding with panel interviews during the period 2nd-8th December 2015.
It was originally anticipated that appointment of 25 lawyers would meet the needs of the region. Twenty seven lawyers were considered following the selection procedure.
It is recommended that they are all appointed to the list. As a result, the list will be fit for purpose for five years.
The list will contain a broadly even split of lawyers based in locations across the region as well as elsewhere.
It is proposed that the 27 lawyers listed in Appendix A are nominated by the Police & Crime Commissioner.
This will be in common with the Police & Crime Commissioners for Northumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire, Humberside, West Yorkshire & South Yorkshire.)
The list should be held by the OPCC for the purposes of compliance with Regulation 25 of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012.
It is further proposed that the list be effective for five years and that a further appointment process be organised and held in time for the expiry of those five year terms.
Terms of appointment and fee arrangements are set out at Appendix B.
Appendix C sets out the costs incurred by the OPCCs in the course of the selection process as well as the anticipated costs of training. These costs will be shared evenly between the OPCCs in due course.
Lawyers appointed to the list will be required to undergo training before they undertake chairmanship. Training has been nationally coordinated via the College of Policing and the Association of Police & Crime Commissioners. It is anticipated that most appointees to the list for this region will attend the session scheduled for 29 January 2016 at Cleveland Police Headquarters.