Appeal against the decision to disapply

Please note, this information is for anyone who made a complaint before 1 February 2020.

You may be able to appeal if the process of looking into your complaint stopped before it was investigated. When a force makes a decision to stop dealing with a complaint before investigating it, this is called a ‘decision to disapply’.

You can appeal if:

• You are not happy with the action that was taken after the decision to disapply.
• You are unhappy that no action was taken after the decision to disapply.
• You do not agree with the outcome of your complaint after the decision to disapply.
• You do not think that the outcome of your complaint after the decision to disapply was sufficient. This means, for example, that you believe the outcome was not sufficient for the nature of the complaint, or the outcome did not reflect the evidence available.

You cannot appeal if your complaint relates to a direction and control issue (this does not apply if your complaint is about a contractor).

Making an appeal

To appeal against the outcome of a complaint after it's been stopped before being investigated, you need to appeal directly to the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct).