Police chief accepts vicarious liability for officers being sued

Deputies have agreed a change to the law which will make the chief of police legally responsible for the actions of his officers.

Home Affairs said the change would allow the force to be represented by States lawyers in civil court actions and end the requirement for individual officers to hire private lawyers paid for by the taxpayer.

‘A much-publicised recent civil case brought directly against police officers highlighted this issue,’ said Home Affairs president Rob Prow.

‘The potential cost implications of the current process have been closely scrutinised by this Assembly and discussed in some detail in various public forums.

‘This amendment will mean not only that police officers can benefit from the experience of the law officers of the Crown when they are personally actioned for doing their job, but addresses the Assembly’s concerns about costs.’

Unusually, the States approved the amendment to the law at the same time as the preceding policy proposals, which Deputy Prow said his committee had requested as it was ‘acutely aware of the tangible difference that the change will make’.

He said that the law change, which does not apply to criminal proceedings, brings the island into line with England and Wales, where chief constables have been vicariously liable for the actions of individual officers for decades.

Arrangements in Guernsey had differed since a court judgement stated that local police officers could be actioned through the courts and must arrange their own legal representation, unlike most other States employees.

Deputy Prow, a member of Home Affairs since 2016, acknowledged that the law could have been changed sooner.

‘This determination was the result of a 2011 judgement and arguably an issue that could have been dealt with in previous terms,’ he said.

‘However, it is this committee that has taken responsibility and analysed the complexities, despite a challenging workload, and is now addressing this outstanding matter.’

The Guernsey Press recently revealed that police officers were facing a total of seven separate claims for damages.

All the cases were understood to be similar to an earlier claim for damages totalling about £12,000, which was settled only when police officers agreed a deal with plaintiffs Robert and Lucia Curgenven, after the States and its insurers had paid the officers’ legal bills.

Home Affairs said the total cost met by taxpayers in that legal action was £255,000.

Some deputies claimed it was unnecessary and wasteful to run up legal bills of an amount more than 20 times the value of the damages originally claimed.

Deputy Prow also told the States that his committee had started a full review of the island’s police complaints law as a priority.

It believed that it was ‘complex and inflexible in some areas’ and hoped to propose reforms to the Assembly before the end of its term in June 2025.

‘The committee perfectly understands that public confidence in the police complaints system is paramount,’ he said.