Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003

11 Inquiries by Board

(1) Section 60 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (inquiry by Board following report by Chief Constable) is amended as set out in subsections (2) to (4).

(2) For subsection (3) substitute—

“(3) The Chief Constable may refer to the Secretary of State the decision of the Board to cause an inquiry to be held under this section if it appears to the Chief Constable that such an inquiry ought not to be held on any of the grounds mentioned in section 76A(2).”

(3) In subsection (5) for “should not be held on a ground mentioned in subsection (3)” substitute “ought not to be held on any of the grounds mentioned in section 76A(2)”.

(4) After subsection (10) insert—

“(10A) Subsection (10B) applies if the Chief Constable supplies to a person conducting an inquiry under this section any information which in the opinion of the Chief Constable is—

(a) information the disclosure of which would be likely to put an individual in danger, or

(b) information which ought not to be disclosed on any of the grounds mentioned in section 76A(1).

(10B) The Chief Constable must—

(a) inform the Secretary of State and the Board that the information has been supplied to the person conducting the inquiry;

(b) inform the Secretary of State, the Board and the person conducting the inquiry that, in his opinion, the information is information of a kind mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (10A).”

(5) Subsections (1) to (4) have effect in relation to a decision of the Board to cause an inquiry to be held under section 60 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (c. 32) if—

(a) the Chief Constable has not referred the decision to the Secretary of State under section 60(3) of that Act before the day on which this Act is passed;

(b) the Chief Constable has referred the decision to the Secretary of State under section 60(3) of that Act before that day but the Secretary of State has not before that day decided whether to overrule the decision under section 60(4) of that Act.