Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000

59 General duty of Chief Constable to report to Board

(1) The Chief Constable shall, whenever so required by the Board, submit to the Board a report on any such matter connected with the policing of Northern Ireland as may be specified in the requirement.

(2) A report under this section shall be made—

(a) in such form as may be specified in the requirement under subsection (1); and

(b) within the period of one month from the date on which that requirement is made or within such longer period as may be agreed between the Chief Constable and the Board.

(3) If it appears to the Chief Constable that a report in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) would contain information which ought not to be disclosed—

(a) in the interests of national security,

(b) because it relates to an individual and is of a sensitive personal nature,

(c) because it would, or would be likely to, prejudice proceedings which have been commenced in a court of law, or

(d) because it would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders,

he may refer the requirement to submit the report to the Secretary of State.

(4) The Secretary of State may within the period of 30 days from the date of referral of the requirement to submit the report by the Chief Constable, or within such longer period as may be agreed between the Board and the Secretary of State, modify or set aside the requirement, as necessary, in order to exempt the Chief Constable from the obligation to report information which, in his opinion, ought not to be disclosed on any of the grounds mentioned in subsection (3).

(5) The Board may arrange, or require the Chief Constable to arrange, for a report under this section to be published in such manner as appears to the Board to be appropriate.