This report discusses the pre-appointment hearing of the preferred candidate, Tom Winsor, to the post of Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Pre-appointment hearings are to assess the suitability of the preferred candidate, but that cannot be done effectively in a vacuum and the Committee were disappointed that the Home Secretary initially refused to provide information on the selection process or the shortlist. The Committee recommends that the Government in future provide such information in keeping with the recommendation from the Liaison Committee. The Home Affairs Committee is content for the Home Secretary to proceed with Mr Winsor's appointment. This is considered against the background that his nomination was controversial. If appointed he will be the first Chief Inspector who has never served as a police officer. They urge Mr Winsor to reach out to forces, police officers of all ranks and their representative bodies to build bridges. He must create a strong relationship with forces and with police and crime commissioners. The Home Affairs Committee will take a continued interest in the work of the Chief Inspector and look forward to hearing evidence from him on a regular basis

This annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary covers the period 1 April 2005 - 31 March 2007 and examines the efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness of policing in England and Wales in this period. Divided into four chapters and an annex, each chapter looks at an area of policing: Chapter 1: Issues for the police service; Chapter 2: Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary work; Chapter 3: Joint working; Chapter 4: Police service performance. Some of topics covered under these chapters include: the review of policing, interim report (see ://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publication/police-reform/Review_of_policing_final_report/flanagan-final-report?view=Binary); freedom of information; personnel, training and diversity; race and diversity; special commissions, covering Jean Charles de Menezes, Iraq, the Palace of Westminster, counter-terrorism; managing sex offenders in the community; serious crime and public protection.

Appointment of HM CPS Chief Inspector : Third report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written Evidence

The Report follows a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing which the Committee held on Tuesday 24 November with Mr Peter Clarke, the Secretary of State's preferred candidate for HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, and Glenys Stacey, the preferred candidate for HM Chief Inspector of Probation.

In order to monitor the effectiveness of its Reports, the Home Affairs Committee maintains a colour-coded grid of its recommendations. Recommendations are coded green if, in it's view, the Government has accepted them, red if they have been rejected, and yellow if they have been partially accepted, or if the Government has undertaken to give them further consideration. This Report covers the Committee's work in the 2012-13 Session. The Committee will use the grid to inform its choice of inquiries over the course of the Parliament, returning to earlier recommendations where it appears that there may be some merit in doing so, but avoiding reduplication of earlier work where it appears unlikely to prove beneficial

Current arrangements for appointing Chief Inspectors and for setting their budgets potentially pose a significant threat to their independence. Chief Inspectors are reliant for their appointment, the length of their tenure and the size of their budgets on the very same Ministers who are responsible for the sectors they inspect. There is a risk that Departments could use these controls over inspectorates as levers to influence Chief Inspectors. The Chief Inspectors told that they do not believe the independence of how they conducted inspections was in doubt. However the Cabinet Office needs to conduct a full review of all arrangements for Chief Inspectors. Particularly shocking was the Ministry of Justice's mishandling of an entirely foreseeable conflict of interest in its appointment of Paul McDowell - whose wife held a senior position in Sodexo Justice Services. The independence of the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration is also undermined by the fact that the Home Secretary now decides when to publish his reports. Since the Home Secretary took control of publishing the Chief Inspector's reports, there have been significant delays which can undermine genuine accountability by blunting the impact of reports. Inspectorates are not held to account, with no formal requirements for inspectorates to demonstrate their impact and effectiveness. The Chief Inspectors accepted that they needed to do more to follow-up and make sure their recommendations were implemented by inspected bodies. Inspectorates need to do more to exploit their findings, and do more to learn from each other

The current incumbent of the post of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dame Anne Owers, is stepping down at the end of her second period of office. Mr Nicholas Hardwick, the founding Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Authority is the preferred candidate for the post, put forward by the Justice Secretary. The Committee fully endorses the suitability of Mr Hardwick for this appointment.

This book provides clear and comprehensive coverage of the policing system and police powers. This second edition has been revised and updated to take account of new legislation, case law and other developments in the area.

In Criminal Discovery: From Truth to Proof and Back Again, author Cosmas Moisidis examines aspects of pre-trial stages such as police interrogations, preliminary hearings and discovery between the prosecution and the defence, addressing contentious issues such as the right to silence and the privilege against self-incrimination. These issues give rise to strong, emotive and polarised differences of opinion. Criminal discovery is an area in which views are entrenched and passions run high. Criminal Discovery: From Truth to Proof and Back Again seeks to inform the current debate through a detailed analysis of the history, theory and practice of criminal discovery. Historical and jurisprudential matters which are not commonly known are here brought to light. The approach is holistic and comparative, examining the issues in detail with reference to the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, United States, particularly California, and Australia. It concludes with recommendations to guide the future, putting forward a reciprocal criminal discovery model which, it is argued, will enhance the truth seeking potential of the adversarial criminal trial.

Originally published in 1998, this handbook describes the statutes and cases that defined the governance, control and authority of the provincial police forces in England and Wales at the time. For many years the complexity and range of these legal authorities had caused misunderstandings and doubt when differing aspects of police activities had been questioned. To clarify the law a major step was taken in the enactment of the Police Act 1996. The consolidating Act brought together most of the existing statutory provisions regarding the governance of police forces. However, since about 1980, a number of other factors relevant to the powers and control of the police had emerged, most notably: Increased civil litigation had led to a number of cases defining the civil liability of the police; Increased use of judicial review procedures with consequent case decisions defining police powers in particular circumstances; Greater centralisation in police policies together with the Home Secretary’s control of finance and other matters; Increased police use of sophisticated technology for record keeping and surveillance purposes; The involvement of the security service in an anti-criminal role. The book (which includes illustrative charts) covers many complex legal issues. It has been written in a plain non-legalistic style. It is understandable to non-lawyers. However, for the benefit of practitioners, all statutory and case references are provided so that original materials can be consulted by those needing further information.