Ministry Of Defence
In July, the Ministry of Defence announced a six-week application window for organisations to apply for designation status to make a super-complaint for the new statutory Service Police Complaints regime that came into force on 19 June 2023. This application window has now been extended until Friday 6 October 2023.
Would-be applicants are reminded as stated during the initial launch of the application window that super-complaints are not an alternative way to raise an individual complaint. Instead, they provide a route through which issues or concerns can be raised on behalf of the public about harmful patterns or trends in policing by the Service Police, which are, or appear to be, significantly harming the interests of the public.
As set out in the Service Police (Complaints etc.) Regulations 2023, only a body designated by the Secretary of State for Defence can bring a super-complaint against the Service Police. All applications for designated body status will be assessed against the criteria set out in the regulations and included in the guidance. An organisation must meet all the criteria to become a designated body.
Separate guidance on how to make a super-complaint will be available once designations have been made by the Secretary of State and a list of designated bodies has been published.
Guidance and the application form for bodies seeking designation as a Service Pol