The standing Committee P
Working method, data collection and
information exchange *1
In the first few months after the "new" Committee P was set up, a number
of initiatives were taken with a view to doing more of what the legislator
had intended, as reflected both in the Law of 18 July 1991 on the monitoring
of police forces and intelligence services, as amended by the Law of 1
April 1999, and in the remarks and recommendations in the report evaluating
the workings of Committee P and Committee I drawn up at the request of
Parliament’s respective Special Supervisory Committees.
Committee P considered that, in mapping out its policy, strict, methodical
account had to be taken of the following main themes and objectives:
- Committee P is above all an external supervisory body, but must nonetheless
aim for optimum cooperation with the internal and external police monitoring
services;
- Committee P is not a complaints board. Rather, it must primarily exercise
control, backed up by verifications, of the way in which complaints
are processed by the internal and external police monitoring services;
- Committee P must try to obtain as complete a picture as possible of
all complaints about the workings of the police forces so as to gain
an understanding, based on in-depth and comprehensive analysis, of where
the individual and general strengths and weaknesses of police forces
lie and, if necessary, to conduct inquiries focusing on specific subjects;
- As far as possible, Committee P must inform complainants as to its
findings concerning their complaint and submit proposals to police forces
designed to remedy satisfactorily the situation in cases where shortcomings
were observed. The Committee also has a major part to play vis-à-vis
police academies and training centres, especially as regards calling
their attention to certain unwanted situations and errors and providing
them with useful information on the subject;
- Committee P believes that one way these objectives can be attained is by concluding agreements with police forces on the subject of mutual exchanges of information and co-operation in the context of inquiries, complaints and denunciations citing the personnel of police forces in question. Committee P also seeks optimum cooperation with internal and external police monitoring services in line with the provisions of Article 14 and 14bis added to the Law of 18 July 1991 by virtue of the Law of 1 April 1999.
To this end, discussions have been launched with the General Commissioner
of Police, the General Inspector of Federal and Local Police and the Chairman
and members of the Standing Committee on Local Policing.
t should be pointed out that these talks, characterized as they are by
a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, now look set to bear fruit
and have already resulted in the conclusion of a protocol agreement with
the Commissioner of Police and with more than 140 local police units,
the first of these being signed on 5 April 2000. Committee P believes
these various protocols fulfil its legal missions and are in keeping with
the main themes and objectives mapped out in Parliament in this connection.
Headway is being made in the negotiations with the General Inspector to
the extent that there is a virtually complete convergence of views on
the draft protocols. The finer detail can now be added to these protocols.
Where the local police forces are concerned, real desire for cooperation
has been noted in consultations involving the Standing Committee and the
President of the Consultative Council of Mayors. Considering the role
of the mayor and the autonomous structure of each local police unit, any
agreements on their organization would appear to be very complex. However,
specific agreements have been reached with a view to attaining a satisfactory
result within an acceptable period of time.
*1 Extracts from the Extraordinary Report 1999-2000