Skip to content

Legal considerations

Media and Communications — Authorised Professional Practice

All topics

Summary

This page covers the legal framework governing the public release of police-held information, ensuring it is lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Police forces must have a legitimate policing aim and balance the information published against this aim. It details automatic reporting restrictions such as those under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, which provide anonymity for under-18s involved in court proceedings, as well as others including the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, Modern Slavery Act 2015, and more. The page also discusses the implications of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and procedural rules related to Criminal Behaviour Orders, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding personal data and human rights principles in the policing context.

Key principles

  • 1Publication must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate.
  • 2Legitimate policing aims include protecting the public and preventing crime.
  • 3Automatic reporting restrictions apply to vulnerable individuals.
  • 4Victims of certain crimes are afforded anonymity under specific acts.
  • 5Contempt of Court Act regulates the reporting of legal proceedings.

This is a brief, factual summary. The full APP guidance — including operational detail, statutory references and case studies — lives on the College of Policing website. APP is the authoritative source for UK policing practice.

Read the full APP guidance

Source: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.