Introduction

Appointment of Legally Qualified Advisors and Independent Panel Members for Police Misconduct Panels

Thank you for your interest in the roles of Legally Qualified Advisor and Independent Panel Members of Police Misconduct Hearings.

MOPAC has a statutory duty under the police complaints system to maintain a list of Legally Qualified Advisors (LQAs) who are available to support police Misconduct Hearings and be nominated to sit on a panel.

Police Misconduct Panels are responsible for determining the outcome of a serious misconduct case after an investigation has taken place and the facts are known. From 2024, the panel members are a Chief Officer and two independent panel members, of which one must have certain skills and experience, supported by, but not on the panel, a Legally Qualified Advisor.

These posts represent an opportunity to be involved in one of the most important responsibilities in policing – upholding the high professional standards the public expects from our police service. Police misconduct panels are an important contributor to public confidence in policing - dishonest and inappropriate behaviour damages the public’s trust in the police service ability to keep them safe.

This recruitment exercise comes at a time when the importance of a fair disciplinary process is central to policing and the public’s confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Police misconduct panels are an important contributor to public confidence in policing - dishonest and inappropriate behaviour damages the public’s trust in the police service ability to keep them safe.

Legally Qualified Advisors were introduced in 2024 and will play a critically important role in misconduct panels. The role involves reading papers in advance of any hearing, advising the proceedings in accordance with the Regulations and aiding the Chair in the provision of full reasons in writing for the decision reached by the misconduct hearing.

 Independent Panel Members were introduced in 2008. They are also a key component of the police misconduct system, assisting panels in coming to fair and evidence based decisions about a particular officer’s conduct and appropriate outcomes arising from those decisions. They provide an independent and impartial voice on these panels and provide assurance to the community that conduct matters are treated seriously.

Particular attention is paid to ensuring, where possible, that the pool of LQAs that make up MOPAC’s list is as diverse as possible to reflect the diversity of London’s communities. For LQAs to be effective, and to allow for a trusted and fair process, they need to be selected on a consistent basis. It is also important that candidates are able to travel to all hearing locations within the Metropolitan Police District, currently these locations are Sutton, Hammersmith and Fulham and Southwark.

In this website we cover the context and detail of both posts, their professional requirements and terms and conditions. I hope you find this information helpful in understanding the nature of the roles we are looking to fill.

I look forward to receiving your application.

Kind regards

Fiona Murphy

Head of MPS Oversight – Workforce and Professionalism