Skip to content

Regulation 6: The harm test

Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/4)

(6) Information in documents which are stated to be subject to the harm test under these Regulations must not be supplied to the officer concerned in so far as the appropriate authority considers that preventing disclosure to the officer is—

(a) necessary for the purpose of preventing the premature or inappropriate disclosure of information that is relevant to, or may be used in, any criminal proceedings;

(b) necessary in the interests of national security;

(c) necessary for the purpose of the prevention or detection of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;

(d) necessary for the purpose of the prevention or detection of misconduct by other police officers or police staff members or their apprehension for such matters;

(e) justified on the grounds that providing the information would involve disproportionate effort in comparison to the seriousness of the allegations against the officer;

(f) necessary and proportionate for the protection of the welfare and safety of any informant or witness, or

(g) otherwise in the public interest.

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk as captured on 2026-07-13. Statute is amended over time — check the source below for the version in force. This is a reference, not legal advice.
View reg.6 on legislation.gov.uk

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.