Expert Witness Journal Issue 68 August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 96
This change is also expected to provide greater
protection for o昀케cers making split-second decisions
under pressure, supporting forces in recruitment
and retention in critical roles.
•
Investigations and misconduct proceedings
which are live before 30 June 2026 will apply the
civil law test. There will be no need to amend
existing notices of investigation and referral to
proceedings for example. Any notices served
on or after that date, but concern allegations
known prior to it, will still apply the old test.
•
Professional Standards Departments will need to
identify carefully which regime applies to each
case and ensure investigators, legal advisers and
panel members are directed accordingly.
2. The reforms are not retrospective
(generally)
The second key feature of the change is that they
do not generally operate retrospectively. The new
use of force standard will not apply to allegations
against a police o昀케cer/former police o昀케cer which
came to attention before 30 June 2026 (or any
allegation coming to attention after that a) which
relates to such earlier matter and b) at a time when
that earlier matter is being handled under relevant
legislation). There is an element of retrospective
e昀昀ect for allegations coming to attention on or after
30 June 2026 though because the new use of force
standard will apply when assessing that matter (even
where the force took place before 30 June 2026).
Looking ahead
The Government has presented the reforms as a
measure designed to provide greater certainty for
o昀케cers who are required to make di昀케cult and often
split-second decisions involving force. The Home
O昀케ce will be updating its Statutory Guidance of
2020 to assist forces with these changes (and changes
made in 2024/2025 as regards o昀케cer misconduct
hearing chairs, presumption of dismissal for
gross misconduct and presumption of accelerated
hearings for former o昀케cers to name a few).
This is a signi昀椀cant point for police forces. There
may be a temptation to assume that ongoing
investigations or proceedings involving use of force
can now be reassessed under the new test. That is
not the case.
Mark Knowles is a Legal Director at Weightmans LPP
and has signi昀椀cant experience in police misconduct,
performance and vetting matters. He advised the
Met Police on the Home O昀케ce Police Accountability
Review, the Rapid Review and represented it in the
seminal vetting case of Di Maria v Commissioner of
Police of the Metropolis.
Some considerations for forces would be:
•
They will 昀椀nd themselves operating two di昀昀erent
legal regimes (in terms of the use of force test to
apply) simultaneously for some time.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
94
AUGUST 2026
