(Agreement signed by Adv Neville J. Melville of the ICD and
former Deputy National Commissioner Z Lavisa of the SAPS)
*Please note that the ICD 7 form is no longer in use. After
an incident has occurred Notification Form A should be sent to
all the relevant roleplayers.
| 1. |
INTRODUCTION |
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) has been
established and will be operational on 1 April 1997. This is
an important milestone for the Republic of South Africa
since the ICD, a body fully independent of the South African
Police Service, will now provide public assurance that the
Service will act in a transparent way and be held
accountable for the performance of its functions.The
mission of the Independent Complaints Directorate is to
provide an independent mechanism under civilian control,
with the objective of ensuring that complaints in respect of
offences and misconduct allegedly committed by members of
the Service are investigated in an effective and efficient
manner. The functions of the ICD are set out in Chapter 10
of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act no. 68 of
1995). Members are advised to read the provisions of the
said chapter and to familiarise themselves with the
functions of the ICD.
Under the provisions of Chapter 10, the Service is
required to assist and cooperate with the ICD to ensure that
it is able to perform its functions and achieve the object
contemplated by the law. These instructions contemplate that
all actions, including requests by the ICD and responses by
the Service, shall be performed in good faith and are
reasonable attempts to conform to the requirements of
Chapter 10 and the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
Although the ICD is completely independent of the South
African Police Service, it will, to a certain extent, rely
on assistance from members of the Service to accomplish its
mission. Since it is also in the interest of the Service
that the ICD be seen to be effective and efficient, members
of the Service are required to render their full cooperation
to staff members of the ICD. In this regard, the attention
of members is called to Section 50(4) of the South African
Police Service Act which requires all organs of state (which
includes the South African Police Service) to render such
assistance as may reasonably be required for the protection
of the independence, impartiality, dignity, and
effectiveness of the ICD in the exercise of its powers and
performance of its functions. The further attention of
members is directed to Section 50(3) of the Act which
prohibits wilful interference with staff members of the ICD
in the exercise of their powers and the performance of their
functions and declares such interference to be a criminal
offence. Any interference by a member with staff members of
the ICD in the exercise of their powers and the performance
of their functions will, therefore, subject such member to
possible criminal prosecution and disciplinary action.
Section 53(2) of the Act empowers the ICD to investigate- |
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| (a) |
any misconduct or
offence allegedly committed by a member; |
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| (b) |
any death in police
custody or as a result of police action; |
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| (c) |
any matter referred
to it by the Minister or a provincial executive. |
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| The fact that the
ICD has been empowered to undertake the above-mentioned
investigations does not mean that members of the Service are
relieved of their duty to conduct such investigations. On
the contrary, it is foreseen that the ICD will, especially
in the beginning, rely heavily upon the Service to conduct
these investigations, but will closely monitor them to
ensure that the investigations are conducted thoroughly. The
ICD will undertake the investigations on its own when
circumstances require such action. Members should,
therefore, realize that investigations of the
above-mentioned nature conducted by them are performed on
behalf of the Service and under scrutiny of the ICD and
should, therefore, do their utmost to ensure that such
investigations are conducted thoroughly. All steps taken
during such an investigation must be fully recorded in the
investigation diary to enable the investigating officer to
report on the progresses of the investigations as and when
required by the ICD. Members should further be aware of
the fact that an investigator of the ICD has the same powers
and authority as a member of the Service. ICD investigators
will identify themselves and provide evidence of their level
of authority through the display of photo identification
cards. |
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| 2. |
DEFINITIONS |
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| 1. |
In these
instructions, unless the context otherwise indicates- |
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(a) |
"a death in
police custody" means the death of any person which
occurs during a period commencing upon the arrest of such
person and ending when the person leaves police custody
either legitimately or by escape. In the case of a person
who is arrested by someone who is not a member of the
Service, the period shall commence at the delivery of such
person into police custody; |
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(b) |
"a death as a
result of police action" means the death of any person,
including a member of the Service, which was caused, or is
reasonably believed to have been caused, by a member of the
South African Police Service while acting in his or her
capacity as a member of the Service, and shall include by
way of illustration, but not limited to, those deaths which
occur in connection with: |
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(i) |
Attempt to effect
an arrest or to prevent an escape; |
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(ii) |
A member's actions
taken in self defence or in the defence of another person; |
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(iii) |
A motor vehicle
collision involving one or more Service vehicles; |
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(iv) |
Mass action where
police were present; and |
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(v) |
Any action or
inaction by a member which amounts to a criminal offence or
misconduct as defined in Regulation 18 of the South African
Police Service Regulations. |
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(c) |
AICD office hours@
shall, until further notice, mean the period between 08:00
and 16:00 on any day which is not a public holiday or a
Saturday or Sunday. |
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| (1) |
A member of the
Service who discovers or becomes aware of a death in police
custody or a death as a result of police action, shall
immediately inform his or her commander of such death,
complete form *ICD-7 (which is attached to these
Instructions as Annexure A), and he or she, or his or her
commander, shall then notify the ICD National Office of such
death at the earliest possible opportunity during ICD office
hours. |
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| (2) |
A notification
referred to in Subparagraph (1) shall be made by a member or
his or her commander by: |
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(a) |
Providing the
information contained on *ICD Form-7 to the ICD National
Office by telephone at either (012) 325-4202; and |
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(b) |
Confirming the
telephone report either by transmitting the completed *ICD
Form-7 by facsimile to (012) 325-4246 (if facsimile is
available) or by post to the ICD National Office, Private
Bag X941, Pretoria 0001. |
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(c) |
Upon receipt of a
telephone notification, the ICD staff member receiving the
report shall furnish the reporting member with his or her
initials and surname and a Report Receipt Number which shall
evidence the transaction. |
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| 4. |
PROCEDURE AFTER
NOTIFICATION |
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| (1) |
Within a reasonably
short time after receipt of the telephone notification, the
ICD investigator assigned to the case shall contact the
member in charge of the investigation or incident scene to
coordinate further action; |
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The member of the
Service in charge of the investigation or the incident scene
shall, when requested to do so by the ICD investigator; |
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(a) |
furnish full
particulars regarding the incident, progress of the
investigation and any further activities which are planned
to the ICD investigator; |
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(b) |
Comply with all
requests from the ICD Investigator regarding the
investigation. Upon request from the Member in charge of the
investigation or scene of the incident, the ICD Investigator
shall, consistent with the performance of a quality
investigation and as soon as reasonably possible, provide
written confirmation of a verbal request. If the member
involved is of the opinion that compliance with the request
will seriously hamper the investigation, he or she shall
consult with his or her commanding officer who may discuss
the matter with the ICD Investigator or ICD Supervisory
personnel. If the ICD insists on compliance with request,
the commanding officer shall make a suitable entry in the
investigation diary regarding the consultation and shall
order the investigating officer to comply with the request.
In this event, the matter shall be reported to the National
Commissioner via the Provincial or Divisional Commissioner. |
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(c) |
A member of the
Service who is in charge of the investigation or the scene
of the incident shall take all steps to perform a complete
investigation including, but not limited to, securing and
preserving the scene; identifying and interviewing all
witnesses; and safeguarding all evidence such as clothing,
firearms, ammunition, records, other weapons, etc. Where
possible, seizure and removal of exhibits from the scene
shall take place only after a full crime scene investigation
has been completed (all exhibits should be left exactly as
found until crime scene experts have completed their
duties); firearms should not be touched, unloaded, etc.
unless circumstances necessitate such action. As far as
reasonably possible under the circumstances, investigative
activity shall be coordinated with the ICD Investigator
assigned to the case. |
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(d) |
The Service and the
ICD shall consult and agree upon the time and date of the
post mortem examination and the identity of the pathologist
who is to perform that procedure. |
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(e) |
Once an
investigation has been initiated into a death by the
Service, it shall continue until receipt of contrary
instructions by the assigned ICD Investigator. If the ICD
wishes to assume control of an investigation, it shall
provide written notice of such fact to the member in charge
of the investigation or the scene of the incident at which
time all investigative activity by the Service shall cease
subject to further ICD request. |
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INDEPENDENT
COMPLAINTS DIRECTORATE Signed
________________________________
Neville J. Melville (Adv)
Executive Director
SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
Signed
______________________________
Deputy National Commissioner of the
South African Police Service
Commissioner Z. Lavisa |
