cover image: The idea of the political "independence" of the police

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The idea of the political "independence" of the police

12 Mar 2007

However, three recent factors have expanded the discussion in NZ regarding the issues that surround police-government relations: a governmental review of the administration and management of the New Zealand Police; controversy over the state visit of the President of China to NZ in 1999; and the introduction of a Bill to amend the existing Police Act. [...] Rather, the legal issue involved in these cases was whether the relationship between a police officer and the government that hired and paid him was the legal relationship of “master and servant” for the purposes, respectively, of the liability of the corporation for the wrongful actions of the police officer8, and a suit for compensation for the loss of his services when he was injured. [...] In the latter case the role of the official is to advise the committee and to implement its decisions on matters of policy; but the decisions themselves are the responsibility of the elected body. [...] Finally, and most significant for the topic of this paper, the Act empowers the Home Secretary to issue “codes of practice relating to the discharge of their functions by the chief officers of police” of 27 Section 41A of the 1996 Police Act, as inserted by Section 5 of the 2000 Police Reform Act. [...] Most recently, the Home Secretary has exercised this power, in the face of resistance from the local police authority, with respect to the Chief Constable of the Humberside Police, in the wake of a highly critical report into the handling of the investigation of the murder of two small children in Soham, Cambridgeshire29.
accountability government politics corruption crime australia common law consensus copyright government information labour law law enforcement police police power prosecutors parliament court judiciary cabinet (government) criminal justice, administration of police administration commissioner executive council australian security intelligence organisation scarman report ray whitrod independent commission against corruption james anderton whitrod anderton

Authors

Stemming, Philip

Pages
88
Published in
Canada

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