Independent Board of Complaints on the Police

Summary

The Independent Board of Complaints on the Police (known officially as the Independent Police Complaints Board) operates under the Police Act (Cap. 164) and is a three-member body: the chairperson must be a retired judge or magistrate, and the two additional members are appointed by the President of Malta on the advice of the Home Affairs Minister for three-year terms. Members must be retired from public service and may not hold concurrent public-office appointments. In practice, members have included former senior police officers (e.g., a retired Commissioner of Police was appointed in 2020), meaning the board does not have an exclusively civilian composition but statute imposes no affirmative civilian-majority requirement. The Board receives complaints against police officers from the public, examines them, and submits findings to the Commissioner of Police and the House of Representatives. It has advisory but not binding discipline power, refers matters involving potential criminal liability to the Attorney General, and does not independently investigate use-of-force incidents. Annual reports are presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.