How can I attempt to change a Bill before it becomes an Act of Parliament?

How can my skills be put to best use in a campaigning organisation?

What steps do I need to take to raise awareness of an issue in the media?

How can I pursue an issue in Brussels as well as in Westminster and Whitehall?

Beyond the Courtroom is a unique new title aimed at lawyers, campaigners, charities, pressure groups and anyone involved in an effort to bring about change in the law. It brings the constitution to life with a clear explanation of the law-making process as well as practical tips and case studies.

This versatile handbook includes all aspects of campaigning and influencing from a lawyer's perspective, including how to make your mark in Whitehall, Westminster and Brussels. It also includes a comprehensive chapter detailing how to have your say in the media as well as:

Practical tips for influencing and campaigning

Case studies showing how lawyers have made a difference

Template draft parliamentary briefings, amendments to legislation and press releases

Clear signposts for sources of further information

The author

Katie Ghose is the director of the British Institute for Human Rights. She is a barrister with extensive campaigns and political experience, having worked in public affairs, as an MP's researcher and as a parliamentary adviser. She is a trustee of Stonewall and Bail for Immigration Detainees and was a member of the taskforce which advised the government on the establishment of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

'It is both an innovative examination of our constitution and a manual of wise practice.'  Rt Hon Lord Justice Sedley.

'A comprehensive, detailed and accurate road map for the new starter to campaigning and a handy reference book for all.' Vera Baird QC MP, from her foreword.

Police Misconduct - Legal Remedies

4^th 2005

Authors: John Harrison, Stephen Cragg and Heather Williams

ISBN: 0905099915

Publishers: Legal Action Group

Price £37

Publication Date: April 2005

Publishers Press Release

Police Misconduct, now in its fourth edition, is a unique and practical guide for practitioners and advisers covering the two major routes to remedying police misconduct: police complaints and civil actions in the courts.

This book equips the reader with the essentials for advising on the full range of procedures, strategies and tactics available.  It provides thorough procedural advice and step-by-step guidance from pre-issue considerations through to jury trial and appeal. There is detailed guidance on the most common torts - false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and misfeasance - and clear analysis of developing causes of actions against the police such as negligence, privacy, discrimination and claims under the Human Rights Act.  It outlines other available remedies such as judicial review and inquests, and includes a unique guide to obtaining compensation for wrongful convictions from the Home Office.

Since the last edition of this book the legal background to the field of police misconduct has transformed.  The fourth edition has been substantially rewritten and expanded to include a major analysis of developments such as the Independent Police Complaints Commission, new police discipline systems, constitutional changes to the organisation of the police and ever-widening police powers.

Contents include:

The constitutional and organisational position of the police

Police complaints Discipline and criminal prosecution

Intentional torts to the person

Abuse of power including malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office

Negligence and related actions

Wrongful interference with land and goods

Human rights and discrimination

Suing the police: pre-action considerations

Bringing the action - issue of proceedings to exchange of witness statements

The civil action trial

Damages

ECHR (process of taking a case to Strasbourg)

Inquests, judicial review and other remedies

Part of the Preface from the book

It is the peculiar paradox of police misconduct cases that it is the very agents of the state who are notionally charged with the task of upholding law and order that are the alleged perpetrators of illegality and disorder.  Almost uniquely among the numerous types of cases that come before the courts the complainant is in practice not only denied the protection of the agency that in other circumstances would impartially investigate and prosecute the wrongdoer but typically finds him- or herself ranged against one of the most powerful institutions in the land which can seem bent upon discrediting their version of events and vindicating its own officers.   Against this background these cases can be especially challenging. Little wonder then that taking a stand against unlawful or abusive conduct by the police can seem lonely and frightening to the individual complainant.

Lawyers and advisers in this area can provide important support in community struggles for social, economic and political change, and for those groups and individuals who are singled out for police harassment.  For complainants who are prepared to confront misconduct there can be significant dividends.  Civil actions can provide compensation for groups and individuals who have been the direct victims of police illegality. But complaints and litigation can also expose misconduct to wider public scrutiny and serve to bring practices and patterns of police behaviour to the attention of those who would otherwise never hear of it.  Action by complainants can also serve a wider purpose of holding the police to account and vindicating the rule of law.  By demonstrating that members of the public are ready to exercise their rights, and that a body of lawyers and advisers have the expertise and ability to pursue those rights, it is possible to exert a powerful influence in curbing misconduct in the future if it can be demonstrated that the legal limits to police powers cannot be breached with impunity.

In this book we aim to explain the procedures and tactics of the two major routes to remedying police misconduct: police complaints and civil actions in the courts.  Police complaints and disciplinary procedures are tightly controlled by a statutory framework of primary legislation, regulations and guidance.  Civil actions against the police have highly individual rules and procedures due to the nature of the torts involved, the availability of exemplary and aggravated damages and, of course, the possibility of trial by jury.  As well as describing the advantages, we have attempted to indicate the pitfalls of the two procedures and how best to avoid them.

Since the last edition of this book in 1995 the legal background to the field of police misconduct has been transformed.  Among the more significant developments, the Human Rights Act 1998 has made Convention Rights deriving from the European Convention on Human Rights directly enforceable in the domestic courts.  The effects of this are capable of reaching into almost every aspect of the law and practice of police misconduct and are still only beginning to be felt.  In the previous year the landmark case of Thompson v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [1997] 2 ALL ER 762, clarified the law on damages and removed much of the uncertainty inherent in leaving questions of quantum to juries in civil action cases.  

In that case In two separate cases the issue arose as to the directions a judge should include in his summing up to assist a jury as to the appropriate amount of damages recoverable by a plaintiff in an action against the police for unlawful conduct.

In the first case, T was lawfully arrested in connection with a drink and driving offence.  The police however used considerable and unnecessary force to place her in a cell, but contended that force was only used after T had refused to be searched.  T was subsequently charged with assaulting an officer in the execution of his duty and was acquitted seven months later. Thereafter she commenced proceedings against the commissioner, claiming damages for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.  At the trial, the jury rejected the officers’ contentions and awarded T damages of £51,500, comprising £1,500 compensatory damages and £50,000 exemplary damages.

In the second case, H was physically assaulted and racially abused when he refused to allow three police officers to enter his house.  He was arrested and detained for about 75 minutes, during which time his house was entered and some of his property removed.  As a result of the incident, H, who had a predisposition to depression, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.  He subsequently commenced proceedings against the commissioner, claiming damages for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and assault.  The jury awarded H damages of £220,000, comprising £20,000 compensatory damages (including aggravated damages) and £200,000 exemplary damages.

The commissioner appealed against the award of damages in each case.

Held (1) When assessing damages awarded to members of the public for unlawful conduct against them by the police, juries should in future be given guidance by the judge as to the amount of damages regarded as appropriate in personal injury cases for particular injuries, and the figure which he considered it would be appropriate to award in the circumstances.  The awards made by judges in personal injury cases were directly relevant, since actions against the police could contain a personal injury element, and where a claim was based on loss of liberty or the damaging effect of malicious prosecution, compensation was awarded for something akin to pain and suffering.  In the instant cases, the directions to the jury were sufficient within the existing guidelines to give them the assistance they required.  In T’s case, the award of £1,500 was not proportionate to the damage which she had suffered in view of the unlawful conduct following her initial arrest, which had continued for seven months, and the court would accordingly substitute a figure of £20,000.  In H’s case, the court  would not interfere with the award, since the consequences for him had been more serious than they would otherwise have been because of his underlying condition; John v MGN Ltd [1996] 2 All ER 35 applied.

(2) Where there was evidence to support a claim for exemplary damages, the jury should be told that it was possible, in exceptional cases, to award damages to punish the defendant where there had been conduct (including oppressive or arbitrary behaviour) by police officers which deserved exceptional remedy.  Such damages were unlikely to be less than £5,000 and might be as much as £25,000, with an absolute maximum of £50,000 in cases where officers of at least the rank of superintendent had been directly involved in the misconduct.  In T’s case, the court would have awarded a sum of £25,000 as exemplary damages, making a total award of £45,000; the commissioner’s appeal against the total award of £51,500 would however be dismissed, since the jury retained a margin of appreciation such that the court would not intervene unless the difference as to amount had been greater.  In H’s case, although there was unprovoked violence involving a number of officers, the incident was over in a matter of hours and there was already an award of aggravated damages which had to be taken into account; the court would therefore reduce the total damages awarded from £220,000 to £35,000 and would accordingly allow the commissioner’s appeal.

Rantzen v Mirror Group Newspapers (1986) Ltd [1993] 4 All ER 975 and John v MGN Ltd [1996] 2 All ER 35 considered.

The 1999 Macpherson report on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry contributed to the Police Reform Act 2002 which established the Independent Police Complaints Commission.  The Act revolutionises the system of police complaints and for the first time allows for the investigation of the most serious complaints to be taken out of the hands of the police themselves and undertaken instead by genuinely independent investigators.  The Macpherson report also led to changes to the race relations legislation in 2000 and 2003 - broadening the scope for actions for racial discrimination by the police.  The Police Act 1997 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 nominally regulate but greatly broaden the scope for covert policing and surveillance. Constitutional changes to the organisation of the police have centralised the policing of terrorist and organised crime and consolidated the grip of the Home Secretary on police functions at both the national and local level.  All this is set against a background of seemingly ever widening police powers justified by public concerns ranging from the threat of terrorist attacks to anti­social behaviour.

In addition, we have outlined other remedies which might be appropriate in cases of police misconduct.  The whole work has been greatly expanded. The basic structure of the book follows the format of earlier editions starting with a consideration of the crucial decision of whether to sue or to complain, the first steps that need to be considered in all cases, a detailed description of the complaints and disciplinary systems, the civil causes of action, the practice and procedure of suing and the other remedies available in particular cases.

However new chapters have been added to incorporate additional material and to present the more detailed analysis of all the major causes of action in a more structured and useable way.  We have aimed to provide practitioners with a thorough explanation of the most important legal remedies and to equip the reader with all the essentials for advising on the full range of procedures, strategies and tactics available.

The law is stated as at 13 March 2005 but in some places it has been possible to include later developments.

John Harrison Stephen Cragg Heather Williams

March 2005

The authors:

John Harrison is a solicitor and partner at Sharpe Pritchard in London. Stephen Cragg is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London specialising in actions against the police and public law. Heather Williams is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London specialising in civil liberties, actions against the police, human rights and discrimination law.

Review By Robert Manning Barrister

When it comes to establishing that the police have acted poorly it is essential to understand fundamental principles; whether you’re a lawyer putting your case to an officer in cross examination, or a lay person wishing to pursue a complaint, this book is a fabulous resource of information.

I read this book from an interesting perspective: not simply as a lawyer briefed to write a book review, but also (and coincidentally) as a private individual seeking to complain about police inaction regarding local anti-social behaviour issues; accordingly I had a healthy appetite for relevant information.

The introductory chapter has a distinct practical flavour which enthused me and I’m pleased to say pervades the whole work; this is vital in my view for a book of this nature where the reader’s primary motivation is likely to be a “need to know” rather than academic interest!  The authors say that their aim is to guide lawyers and advisers through the law, practice and procedures of the remedies available to meet abuses of police powers. The two main remedies they consider are the procedure for complaining formally through the established system administered by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and pursuing a civil action. Importantly the tactical dimension is woven in to the text, so that the reader has a feel for how the full range of remedies can be blended together to achieve the desired objective. 

The initial steps of case preparation is presented very clearly and chapter 2 contains an extraordinarily helpful insight into the workings of the local police station – a subject that many lawyers, advisors and lay people would like to know more about, but are too afraid to ask! This nuts and bolts approach includes detailed information about such areas as police officers’ note books and police station records: in other words the kind of practical information the reader might need to draw upon when preparing a case.

It is also important for potential complainants to appreciate that the police are controlled by a variety of different bodies. Chapter 3 unravels the main institutions that exercise control over the police; this information is crucial for anyone wishing to efficiently advance a complaint or case against the police. The office of police constable is explained clearly and pinpoints the nature of a police officer’s official status, authority, liability, duties and jurisdiction.

The approach the authors take to the procedure for making a complaint against the police is logical and importantly very practical. I was particularly impressed with the treatment the authors give to the process of local resolution. It’s explained simply and in such a way as to highlight clearly the weaknesses in the system; the reader is also put on notice of the possible tactics the police may use to encourage use of this informal mechanism. The chapter is well balanced and enlightening - it even offers help in distinguishing the genuine police apology from annoying management speak! I did wonder whether the chapter could be further enhanced with a section on press publicity; the pitfalls associated with such publicity and the extent to which it has the potential to interfere with the complaints procedure and/or subsequent litigation, might be useful to know.

The police may take disciplinary action against an officer as a result of a complaint of misconduct or indeed criminal proceedings may be commenced. These disciplinary procedures are traversed in explicit detail which gives the reader a practical feel for the procedure at a police misconduct hearing. The pros and cons of pursuing criminal proceedings against the police are considered and the mechanics of private prosecutions are explained well. The measured approach balances the advantages and disadvantages of litigation in the criminal courts. The process of the criminal trial, together with issues such as pre-trial disclosure from the police, is an area that perhaps could be developed further in the book.  When it comes to the question of pursuing a remedy in the civil courts, the authors literally provide chapter and verse; causes of action are meticulously explained with very helpful advice on pre-trial preparation, preliminary matters and the course of the trial. Even the complainant seeking redress in the European Court of Human Rights is given adequate guidance on making an application, the initial procedure and the procedure before the court.

In each section the information is presented in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner across a book of almost 700 pages. It covers an incredible amount of practical detail and is essential reading for anyone dealing with a case of alleged police misconduct. I absorbed the information in this book like a sponge – it’s the very antithesis of a turgid tome – the information is relevant, logical and leaps off the pages. In short it’s a very readable law book, which in my experience is a rare beast indeed!

Robert Manning

Identification: Investigation, Trial and Scientific Evidence

Author: Paul Bogan

ISBN: 1903307252

Publishers: Legal Action Group

Price £37 RRP UK

Publication Date: 2004