Statute Details
- Title: Police Force (Composition of Disciplinary Offences) Regulations 2023
- Act Code: PFA2004-S455-2023
- Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Enacting Act: Police Force Act 2004
- Enabling provision: Section 85(1) of the Police Force Act 2004
- Commencement: 1 July 2023
- Legislation number: S 455/2023
- Status (as provided): Current version as at 27 Mar 2026
- Key provisions: Regulation 1 (Citation and commencement); Regulation 2 (Compoundable disciplinary offences)
- Made on: 27 June 2023
- Authorising Minister/Authority: Minister for Home Affairs (made by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Police Force (Composition of Disciplinary Offences) Regulations 2023 (“the Regulations”) is a targeted set of rules that enables certain disciplinary-related offences under the Police Force Act 2004 to be “compounded”. In plain language, compounding is a mechanism that allows an eligible person to resolve a specified offence without going through the full disciplinary process, by paying or complying with the composition arrangement authorised under the parent Act.
The Regulations focus on one narrow category of conduct: failures by an operationally ready national serviceman (“NSman”) or certain volunteers in the Special Constabulary to comply with orders relating to physical fitness testing and medical screening. These include orders to take or complete fitness tests such as the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT), the Alternative Aerobic Fitness Test (AAFT), and the Sub-maximal Physical Fitness Test (SPFT), as well as orders to undergo medical screening for certification of physical fitness to take those tests.
Accordingly, the Regulations do not create broad new disciplinary offences. Instead, they identify which offences—specifically, offences under paragraph 5 of the Schedule to the Police Force Act 2004 in relation to non-compliance with specified orders—may be compounded. This is important for practitioners because it determines when a compounding route is available, who may compound, and what kinds of orders are covered.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Regulation 1 (Citation and commencement) is straightforward. It provides that the Regulations may be cited as the Police Force (Composition of Disciplinary Offences) Regulations 2023 and that they come into operation on 1 July 2023. For legal practice, this matters when assessing whether compounding could be offered for conduct occurring before or after commencement, and when advising on procedural timelines.
Regulation 2 (Compoundable disciplinary offences) is the operative provision. It states that an offence under paragraph 5 of the Schedule to the Police Force Act 2004, in relation to a failure by an NSman or a volunteer (subject to an important exclusion) to comply with specified orders, may be compounded by a police officer or public officer authorised by the Commissioner to compound offences in accordance with section 84A of the Police Force Act 2004.
Several elements in Regulation 2 are worth careful attention:
(1) The offence category: The compoundable offence is “an offence under paragraph 5 of the Schedule to the Act” concerning a failure to comply with certain orders. Practitioners should therefore read paragraph 5 of the Schedule alongside Regulation 2 to understand the underlying disciplinary offence framework. The Regulations are not self-contained; they operate by selecting a particular offence type from the Schedule.
(2) The persons covered: The failure must be by an NSman or a volunteer enrolled as a member of the Special Constabulary. However, the provision includes a specific carve-out: it applies to a volunteer other than a volunteer ex‑NSman. This exclusion is legally significant because it narrows the compounding availability for a particular class of volunteers. If advising a volunteer ex‑NSman, counsel should verify whether the compounding mechanism is unavailable and whether other disciplinary routes apply.
(3) The orders covered: The failure must relate to compliance with any of the following:
- (a) An IPPT Order or an order to complete the AAFT or SPFT, as the case may be.
- (b) An order to undergo a medical screening for the purpose of certifying the NSman’s or volunteer’s physical fitness to take the IPPT, AAFT or SPFT, as the case may be.
In practice, this means the compounding regime is tied to the fitness testing and medical certification pipeline. The Regulations treat non-compliance with fitness orders and medical screening orders as the relevant “failure” events that can be compounded.
Regulation 2(2) (Definitions) supplies key interpretive terms. These definitions are crucial for legal certainty, especially where orders may be issued under different instruments or where fitness programmes have multiple names. The Regulations define:
- AAFT as the Alternative Aerobic Fitness Test.
- IPPT as the Individual Physical Proficiency Test.
- IPPT Order as:
- paragraph 8 of the Notice Requiring Persons to Report for Individual Physical Proficiency Test and Fitness Improvement Training Programme (G.N. No. 638/2021); and
- any other order requiring an NSman to take or complete an IPPT or other fitness programme in lieu of the IPPT.
- NSman as a person liable for operationally ready national service under section 2 of the Enlistment Act 1970 and enlisted in the Special Constabulary.
- SPFT as the Sub-maximal Physical Fitness Test.
- volunteer as a volunteer enrolled as a member of the Special Constabulary.
From a practitioner’s perspective, the definition of IPPT Order is particularly important because it anchors the concept to a specific notice (G.N. No. 638/2021) and also extends it to “any other order” requiring an NSman to take or complete IPPT or a substitute fitness programme. This reduces arguments that an order is outside the scope merely because it is issued under a different notice or programme variant.
Finally, Regulation 2 links compounding to the parent Act’s authorisation framework: compounding may be done by a police officer or public officer authorised by the Commissioner, and the authorisation must be “in accordance with section 84A of the Act”. This signals that the Regulations are procedural/administrative in nature, while the substantive authority and composition mechanics are found in the Police Force Act 2004.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are concise and consist of:
- Regulation 1: Citation and commencement.
- Regulation 2: The identification of which disciplinary offences are compoundable, the persons and orders covered, and the definitions needed to interpret the scope.
There are no additional Parts or complex schedules in the extract provided. The structure reflects the Regulations’ purpose: to specify the limited set of offences and circumstances where compounding is permitted under the Police Force Act 2004.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Regulations apply to two main categories of persons within the Special Constabulary context:
- NSmen enlisted in the Special Constabulary who are liable for operationally ready national service under the Enlistment Act 1970; and
- Volunteers enrolled as members of the Special Constabulary.
However, the Regulations apply to volunteers excluding volunteer ex‑NSmen. This exclusion should be treated as a threshold eligibility requirement for compounding. If a volunteer falls within the excluded category, the Regulations do not authorise compounding for the specified fitness and medical screening failures under paragraph 5 of the Schedule.
On the enforcement side, the Regulations also apply to the authorised compounding officers—police officers or public officers authorised by the Commissioner to compound offences. Practitioners advising agencies or individuals should therefore confirm both (i) the person’s status and (ii) whether the officer offering compounding is properly authorised under the Police Force Act 2004 framework.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Although the Regulations are brief, they have practical consequences for disciplinary administration and for affected individuals. Compounding provides a streamlined resolution pathway for certain failures to comply with fitness testing and medical screening orders. This can reduce time spent on formal disciplinary proceedings and can provide a predictable administrative outcome for non-compliance events.
For legal practitioners, the importance lies in scope control. The Regulations precisely define which offences are compoundable and which orders trigger eligibility. This affects advice on whether a person can accept compounding, what arguments may be available regarding whether the order was an “IPPT Order” (including substitute fitness programme orders), and whether the person is within the covered categories (especially the exclusion for volunteer ex‑NSmen).
In addition, the Regulations’ reliance on the parent Act’s compounding mechanism (section 84A) means that practitioners should treat the Regulations as part of a combined legal framework. The Regulations identify the “what” (which offences and failures), while the Police Force Act 2004 governs the “how” (the composition process, authorisation, and legal effect). Counsel should therefore read the Regulations together with paragraph 5 of the Schedule and section 84A to provide complete advice on procedure and consequences.
Finally, because the Regulations tie compounding to fitness and medical certification orders, they reflect an administrative policy objective: ensuring operational readiness and compliance with fitness regimes while offering an efficient enforcement tool. This can be relevant in submissions about proportionality, administrative fairness, and the practical handling of repeated or contested non-compliance.
Related Legislation
- Police Force Act 2004 (including section 84A on compounding and section 85(1) as the enabling provision)
- Police Force Act 2004 (paragraph 5 of the Schedule to the Act)
- Enlistment Act 1970 (definition of operationally ready national service in section 2)
- Notice Requiring Persons to Report for Individual Physical Proficiency Test and Fitness Improvement Training Programme (G.N. No. 638/2021)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Police Force (Composition of Disciplinary Offences) Regulations 2023 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.