Human Rights Annual Report 2015
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HUMAN RIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Monitoring the compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland with the Human Rights Act 1998. Foreword I am pleased to present the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s (the Policing Board’s) 11th Human Rights Annual Report. The Policing Board is required by section 3(3)(b)(ii) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 to monitor the performance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in complying with the Human Rights Act 1998. In order to assist it with fulfilling this duty, the Policing Board appointed Human Rights Advisors in 2003 to devise a framework detailing the standards against which the performance of the police in complying with the Human Rights Act 1998 would be monitored. The Policing Board’s Performance Committee, with the assistance of the Human Rights Advisor, is responsible for implementing the monitoring framework. This work has been reported upon by way of a Human Rights Annual Report every year since 2005. The implementation of human rights standards and principles is central to good policing and should be pivotal to everything that PSNI do. It helps to preserve public confidence in the PSNI which is paramount in securing its legitimacy. Ultimately it is the public who provide the police with their legitimacy and it is their acceptance of the legitimacy of the police that gives them their authority. This fundamental tenet lies at the heart of the work which the Policing Board, assisted by the Human Rights Advisor, carries out in monitoring and reporting upon the PSNI’s compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998. The Policing Board’s Human Rights Annual Report reports on performance of the PSNI in its compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998. In this respect it is a reflection of the work undertaken by the Policing Board, particularly through the Performance Committee, in holding PSNI to account and is an open and public commentary on police performance and of the Policing Board’s monitoring work. The Policing Board’s human rights monitoring work has been recognised as good practice in other parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, with police services and government officials from other countries frequently visiting Northern Ireland to learn how PSNI has adopted a human rights culture and how the Policing Board carries out its oversight role in this regard. PSNI has now implemented over 200 recommendations made in 10 previous Annual Reports across a range of issues such as domestic abuse, hate crime, children and young people, public order, use of force, stop and search, covert policing, complaints and discipline and many more. The importance of having Annual Reports is reflected in the sheer breadth of work undertaken by the Policing Board and by the Human Rights Advisor in identifying emerging issues which pose new and evolving challenges for PSNI. The 2015 Annual Report contains 14 recommendations for PSNI relating to human rights training, policy and guidance in relation to Domestic Violence Protection Notices, the operation of the Youth Diversion Scheme, the deployment of Small Unmanned Aircraft, the service of non-molestation orders and police detention. As well as Annual Reports, the Policing Board and Human Rights Advisor monitor and report on PSNI’s human rights compliance through thematic reviews. These reviews provide a means of undertaking detailed examinations of specific areas of police policy and practice from a human rights perspective, using the community’s experience of policing to inform the evidence base against which compliance with human rights principles can be evaluated. The thematic reviews and associated follow-up reviews have made a combined total of 73 recommendations and have examined the police response to domestic abuse; children and young people; policing with and for lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals and transgender individuals; and police powers to stop and search and stop and question under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. The Board’s Human Rights Advisor is currently finalising a thematic review of the PSNI response to race hate crime, the findings of which will be published during 2016. The commitment of the Chief Constable and PSNI to ensuring a human rights based approach to policing is demonstrated by their acceptance and implementation of the recommendations made in previous Human Rights Annual Reports and thematic reviews. The 2015 Annual Report notes that nine recommendations from previous years were implemented during 2015. In implementing these recommendations, PSNI reported to the Performance Committee throughout 2015 on a range of issues including child sexual exploitation; the service of ex-parte non-molestation orders and occupation orders; training, policy and practices for responding to disability hate crime; terrorism detainees; healthcare within custody; and Youth Engagement Clinics. The Policing Board, through the work of its Human Rights Advisor and Performance Committee, will continue to monitor and report upon PSNI’s performance in ensuring a human rights compliant service. This is the 7th Human Rights Annual Report produced on behalf of the Committee by the Policing Board’s Human Rights Advisor, Alyson Kilpatrick BL. On behalf of the Policing Board, I would like to thank Alyson for her continued support and contribution. Anne Connolly Chair Northern Ireland Policing Board CONTENTS 1. PSNI Human Rights Programme of Action 2 2. Training 5 3. Policy 12 4. Operations 35 5. Complaints, Discipline and the Code of Ethics 55 6. Public Order 95 7. Use of Force 99 8. Covert Policing 115 9. Victims 140 10. Treatment of Suspects 196 11. Policing with the Community & Human Rights Awareness 211 12. Privacy, Data Protection and Freedom of Information 213 13. Children and Young People 216 Appendix 1: 2015 Recommendations 237 Appendix 2: Implementation of Recommendations from 2014 240 1 1. PSNI HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAMME OF ACTION The Policing Board knows that a commitment to safeguarding human rights, the substantive and visible protection of those rights and the exposure of violations of rights if they do occur are the best means of building public confidence in policing and ensuring an effective and efficient police service which can police with the consent of the community. It is trite to say that a police service that cannot secure public confidence and maintain its legitimacy cannot function effectively. It is the public who provide the police with their legitimacy – it is their acceptance of the legitimacy of the police that gives the police their authority. That is the fundamental premise upon which the Performance Committee of the Policing Board (the Committee) monitors and reports upon the compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with the Human Rights Act 1998. That was true when the PSNI was established and remains true today. In 1999, a central proposition of the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (the Patten report) was that the fundamental purpose of policing should be, in the words of the Belfast Agreement 1998, “the protection and vindication of the human rights of all... There should be no conflict between human rights and policing: policing means protecting human rights”. 1 In 2001, that central proposition was accepted by the newly established PSNI whose new oath of office incorporated an unambiguous commitment to the protection of human rights as contained in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) 2 and supplemented by other relevant human rights instruments.3 There followed, in 2003, a Code of Ethics which became the new discipline code for police officers laying down the standards of practice and conduct expected of police 1 A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland, Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, September 1999, paragraph 4.1. 2 The ECHR was enshrined in domestic law by the Human Rights Act 1998 which amongst other things makes it unlawful for a public authority to act incompatibly with the rights contained in the ECHR. 3 Such as the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials; the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and firearms by Law Enforcement Officials; and the European Police Code of Ethics. 2 officers. Importantly, the Code of Ethics also made officers aware of their obligations and rights under the Human Rights Act 1998. The Code of Ethics was revised and reissued in 20084 and has become “one of the success stories in advancing the human rights agenda in the PSNI”.5 In response to Recommendation 1 of the Patten report, which required a “comprehensive programme of action to focus policing in Northern Ireland on a human rights-based approach” the PSNI published a Human Rights Programme of Action. In the Programme of Action, which has been published each year since 2004, the PSNI demonstrates its commitment at an organisational level to embrace human rights as a core value in all police processes and as a guide to the behaviour of police officers and police staff. The Programme of Action also provides an opportunity for the PSNI to respond with specificity to the recommendations contained within each Human Rights Annual Report published by the Policing Board. The PSNI Programme of Action 2014/2015 was published on 2 June 2015 and is available to view online through the PSNI website.6 It was circulated by email to all police officers and staff and has been uploaded to the PSNI intranet (Policenet). In the Programme of Action the PSNI indicates its acceptance of 8 of the 9 recommendations made in the Human Rights Annual Report 2014 and outlines how it will implement them. In his introductory comments, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Chris Noble welcomes the scrutiny and challenge of the Board and states that the PSNI regards human rights oversight, “as an opportunity to make policing policy and practice even better, more efficient and more effective”.7 He continues, “Operationalising human rights requires constant effort; it requires us to be accountable, transparent and open to learning.