New review gives go ahead to OPONI to recommence historical cases
23/01/2013
Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has recommended that the Office of the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland recommence the investigation of historical cases. View Report Page.
The recommendation was made in a new report published today which reviewed the progress made by the Police Ombudsman's office to address recommendations made by CJI in September 2011.
"My recommendation that the Police Ombudsman's Office re-commences this important and highly sensitive work is made based on the findings of a rigorous, independent impartial follow-up review," said Mr McGuigan.
"The review found evidence of substantial progress and that new structures and processes had been put in place aimed at providing robust quality assurance of historical investigations and the production of public reports.
"Our intention is to return to the Police Ombudsman's office once a number of reports have been published to truly assess if independence has been restored," he said.
Of the six recommendations made by CJI in its 2011 report on the independence of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, four are assessed as achieved and a further two partially achieved.