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Parliamentary committee reviews of police oversight agencies: A Queensland case study

Parliamentary committee reviews of police oversight agencies: A Queensland case study Dr Lyndel Bates, CARRS-Q Peter Rogers, Queensland Parliamentary Service. Overview. Civilian oversight Model accountability system Crime and Misconduct Commission

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Parliamentary committee reviews of police oversight agencies: A Queensland case study

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  1. Parliamentary committee reviews of police oversight agencies: A Queensland case study Dr Lyndel Bates, CARRS-Q Peter Rogers, Queensland Parliamentary Service

  2. Overview • Civilian oversight • Model accountability system • Crime and Misconduct Commission • Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee • Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner • Three year reviews

  3. Civilian oversight • Aims to enhance accountability and confidence in police organisations (Porter & Prenzler, 2012a) • Ensure police organisations act with integrity (Filstad & Gottschalk, 2011; Prenzler & Lewis, 2005) • Powers and functions vary between jurisdictions (Porter & Prenzler, 2012b)

  4. Model accountability system Adapted from Prenzler, 2009

  5. Crime and Misconduct Commission (1) • CMC is an independent statutory body • Commenced on 1 January 2002 • Established under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 • Range of coercive powers under the Act Crime and Misconduct Commission, 2012; Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee, 2012; Lewis, 2010; den Heyer and Beckley, 2013)

  6. Crime and Misconduct Commission (2) • Combating and reducing the incidence of major crime • Improving the integrity of the public sector • Other areas • Research and prevention • Intelligence • Witness protection • Civil confiscation of the proceeds of crime Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee, 2012

  7. Accountability of CMC Parliament and the people of Queensland Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee Parliamentary Commissioner Crime and Misconduct Commission Commissioners The Minister (performance reporting)

  8. Parliaments and public sector integrity agencies • Parliaments create public sector integrity agencies • Parliaments are the mechanism by which public sector integrity agencies remain accountable Wettenhall, 2012

  9. Role of the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee • Monitor and review the CMC • Report to the Parliament on relevant matters relating to CMC • Assist in the appointment process of CMC chairperson and part-time commissioners

  10. Activities of the PCMC (1) • Examine reports provided by CMC • Consider minutes of meetings of the CMC and its executive • Regular bi-monthly meetings between PCMC and Chairperson and senior CMC officers • Regular meetings with the parliamentary commissioner

  11. Activities of the PCMC (2) • Receives and considers complaints against CMC and its officers • Reviews CMC reports • Examines CMC performance measures • Requests reports from CMC on matters • Audits CMC registers and files regarding use of CMC powers (may be done by commissioner) • Can conduct inquiries

  12. Differences with other parliamentary committees • PCMC continues in existence even after the dissolution of Parliament • Chair is non-government member • Attachment of a parliamentary officer, known as the Parliamentary Commissioner, to the committee

  13. Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner (1) • Has roles under several Acts • Directed by the committee • Investigates complaints against the CMC • Audits and reviews CMC performance • Has coercive powers • Can order to CMC officers to attend hearings or to produce records, documents and things Lewis, 2010

  14. Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner (2) • Part-time role • Minimum tenure is two years • Maximum tenure is five years • Needs to have served as, or be qualified for appointment as, a judge in either the Supreme Court, the High Court of Australia or the Federal Court of Australia • Appointment requires bipartisan committee support

  15. Three year reviews (1) • Review of CMC activities – 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012 • Report may make recommendations to amend the Act • All recommendations must be considered by the Queensland Government • Must respond within three – six months of report being tabled

  16. Three year reviews (2) • PCMC issues media release • Places an advertisement calling for submissions • PCMC writes to stakeholders inviting written submissions • Hold public hearings • Parliamentary Commissioner involved in all reviews

  17. PCMC reports on reviews of the CMC

  18. Publicly available written submissions to reviews of the CMC

  19. Publicly available submissions made to PCMC review of the CMC by type of submitter and review

  20. Publicly available submissions by category of submitter 2004 review 2006 review

  21. Publicly available submissions by category of submitter 2009 review 2012 review

  22. Number of confidential submissions by review

  23. Ongoing developments • Two recent reviews • Queensland Government appointed an advisory panel to advise on the Crime and Misconduct Act • 61 submissions to this review • PCMC investigation into CMC’s release and destruction of Fitzgerald Inquiry documents

  24. Conclusions • Queensland system similar to model proposed by Prenzler (2009) • Assists in making integrity commission accountable to Parliament and the electorate • Number of written submissions to 3 year review falling • Need for research to understand role of parliamentary committees in oversight

  25. References Crime and Misconduct Commission. 2012. Annual Report 2011-12. Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission. den Heyer, G and A Beckley. 2013. "Police independent oversight in Australia and New Zealand." Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. Filstad, C and P Gottschalk. 2011. "Performance evaluation of police oversight agencies." Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy 21 (1): 96-109. Lewis, C. 2010. "Crime and Misconduct Commission: Moving away from Fitzgerald." In The Fitzgerald Legacy: Reforming Public Life in Australia and Beyond, edited by C Lewis, J Ransley and R Homel, 57-80. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press. Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee. 2012. Annual Report 2011/2012. Brisbane: Queensland Parliament. Porter, L and T Prenzler. 2012a. "Police oversight in the United Kingdom: The balance of independence and collaboration." International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 40 (3): 152-171. Porter, L and T Prenzler. 2012b. "Corruption prevention and complaint management." In Policing and Security in Practice: Challenges and Achievements, edited by T Prenzler, 130-148. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Prenzler, T. 2009. Police Corruption: Preventing Misconduct and Maintaining Integrity. Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis. Prenzler, T and C Lewis. 2005. "Performance Indicators for Police Oversight Agencies." Australian Journal of Public Administration 64 (2): 77-83. Wettenhall, R. 2012. "Integrity agencies: the significance of the parliamentary relationship." Policy Studies 33 (1): 65-78.

  26. Thank youQuestions? Dr Lyndel Bates Lyndel.Bates@qut.edu.au Peter Rogers Peter.Rogers@parliament.qld.gov.au

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