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The aim of Out of Court Scrutiny Panel is to determine whether the method of disposal is considered appropriate.
An out of court disposal (OoCD) is a method used to allow the Police to deal efficiently and effectively with some offences that can be proportionately and more appropriately handled without going to court.
An OoCD can only be used in limited circumstances and only when the suspect takes responsibility for the offence. The method for dealing with suspects in this way includes restorative approaches, community resolutions, conditional cautioning, simple cautions, cannabis warnings, Penalty Notices for Disorder and interventions for young people. More information about each of these approaches can be found by accessing the link below:
You can find a list of all our meetings and their agendas/minutes on our Public Meetings page
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The OoCD panel was established collaboratively between Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary and was one of the first set up across the country in 2013. Information is presented to the panel by police officers and membership is made up of a range of partner agencies allowing them to independently review a selection of anonymised cases that have been resolved by the police with an OoCD.
The Police and Crime Commissioners for Cleveland and Durham are in a unique position to provide feedback to the respective forces and information to the public about the work of the panel and will continue to publish updates on their websites.
The aim of the panel is to determine whether the method of disposal is considered appropriate, based on a review of the information/evidence available to the decision maker at the time.
The panel cannot reopen a case and has no referral or appeals capability. The purpose of the panel is not to re-judge these cases but to assess the process and identify any appropriate learning to assist the police with continuous improvement.
The intention of the panel is to provide transparency and accountability and to increase the public’s understanding, confidence and trust in how both Forces use OoCDs, with particular focus on the delivery of appropriate and proportionate justice.
Out of Court Annual Summary Report 2021
Out of Court Scrutiny Panel Findings
2021
October 2021
July 2021
April 2021
January 2021
2022
January 2022
April 2022
