Chris
Patten chaired the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern
Ireland
The
Good Friday Agreement recognises that policing has been a "highly emotive"
issue and calls for the radical transformation of the RUC into a service
"capable of attracting and sustaining support from the community
as a whole". It does not present a blueprint for change but suggests
that a new police service should be:
-
representative
of the society it polices
-
fair
and impartial, and free from partisan political control
-
professional,
effective, and efficient
-
accountable,
both under the law for its actions and to the community
The
Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, better known as
the Patten Commission, was set up on 3 June 1998 to carry out a fundamental
review of the RUC and recommend proposals for a new policing service. Chris
Patten, one time Government minister in Northern Ireland and last Governor
of Hong Kong, chaired the commission of six men and two women.
Patten's
overall objective was "to depoliticise policing". This was a
contentious objective given the historical relationship between the unionist
community and the RUC. To achieve this his commission set itself five
principles against which it tested its proposals:
1
Does
this proposal promote effective and efficient policing?
2
Will
it deliver fair and impartial policing, free from partisan control?
3
Does
it provide for accountability, both to the law and to the community?
4
Will
it make the police more representative of the society they serve?
5
Does
it protect and vindicate the human rights and human dignity of all?
The
commission began its work by spending the first few months visiting RUC
stations and talking to police organisations. It then went "on tour"
and held
40 public meetings across Northern Ireland gathering evidence from Protestant,
Catholic and mixed communities in every local council area. About 10,000
people attended these meetings indicating the strength of feeling about
policing. The Commission also encouraged anyone with a view on future policing
arrangements to submit a written contribution to the debate. At least 3,000
submissions were received from individuals, interest groups and political
parties.
