Balancing Police Independence and Political Responsibility for the Police: Some Recent Developments in Australia, Canada, and the UK

Abstract

Abstract There is a need for balance between respecting the independence of the police to make law enforcement decisions in individual cases while allowing and indeed encouraging many other forms of legitimate political direction of the police. This article will argue that legislative reform should codify a minimal definition of police independence that would produce narrower definitions of police independence than found in recent policing legislation enacted in Australia and Canada and clearer standards than found either in the common law or the Policing Protocol Order, 2011 used in England. In addition, it suggests that Police Acts should encourage transparent political direction of the police by requiring such direction to be in writing and to be made public. It will be suggested that Victoria’s Police Service Act, 2013 and Ontario’s new Police Act, 2018 achieve some, but not all, of these objectives.