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Request to release incident reports to the Police
Rank: Forum user
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Any views would be appreciated on this one. I give H & S advice to various magistrates, crown and county courts.
A complaints investigator working for the Police has requested a copy of one of our incident report forms, as a defendant has made a complaint about his treatment by Officers, alleging they used excessive force which caused injuries. I have not seen a copy of the incident report form myself (we have a separate Security Officer) but apparently 2 members of staff and 1 legal adviser completed forms as to what they witnessed. The Legal Team have stated that they are not prepared for information from the legal adviser to be released.
We do of course have a reporting system in place, and report relevant incidents under RIDDOR to the HSE, but can anyone give a steer on the procedures in this case - does the Police request override any request for information to remain 'in-house'?
The Police have stated that if statements cannot be released, they will request a report from a court official detaling what occurred that day.
The defendant apparently had a recording video pen on him at the time of his appearance, so has video footage of what happened.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Ian, I suggest that you get specific legal advice on this. The legal team should know what they are doing but it is my understanding that any witness competent to give evidence can ultimately be compelled to testify unless certain circumstances are in place, such as claiming legal priviledge or the wider public interest, and national security.
hve a look at item 6 in http://ec.europa.eu/civi.../evidence_eng_en.htm#6.b)
good luck
Martin
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Rank: Forum user
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Your legal adviser could be wearing one of at least two hats. One hat says "witness" the other says "legal adviser". It gets confusing if he's wearing both at the same time. Which is he wearing?
My instinct like the others above is that you need clear advice but I would ask the legal adviser to fillet his material so as to pull all the first hand witness information together. I suspect that the earlier this factual component is given to the Police the better without needing to get to the forcing stage. But take advice.
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Rank: Forum user
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"A complaints investigator" may have no legal right to make a demand, and so has made a request. I think that if the investigator has a right of access they will be only to happy to explain and exercise such.
It has to be a corporate decision as to whether to help or hinder such investigations.
It is for the legal team to provide the Corporate body with guidance, but the body itself to make the decision.
I suggest you need to escalate in house.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Surely the injured person can request a copy and forward it to the complaints people. Same difference but you get the consent to share any personal info on the form.
If, in fact, the concern is over divulging personal information about the injured person without their consent.
If not, I'm baffled.
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Request to release incident reports to the Police
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