GSOC publishes its 2023 Annual Report – Transformation, Growth, Reform

GSOC publishes its 2023 Annual Report – Transformation, Growth, Reform

GSOC’s Annual Report documents the high volume and complexity of allegations dealt with by the policing oversight body in 2023, and provides an expanded and detailed set of case studies, public interest investigation summaries, and detail of systemic recommendations made to An Garda Síochána. The report also looks ahead to GSOC’s planned transition to an expanded and transformed police oversight body under forthcoming legislation, stressing the importance of safeguarding independence and ensuring adequate resourcing.

6 September 2024

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) published its 2023 Annual Report, Transformation, Growth, Reform, on 6 September 2024. The report documents the high volume and complexity of allegations dealt with by the policing oversight body in 2023.

The Annual Report presents an overview of GSOC’s work in 2023, including statistics on the number of complaints received, the number of investigations undertaken, and outcomes reached. GSOC received a total of 1577 complaints from the public in 2023, and opened 35 investigations on referral by An Garda Síochána following incidents involving death or serious harm. The year also saw 40 files forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions arising from GSOC investigations into allegations of sexual violence, assault, breaches of the Road Traffic Acts and the provision of false information.,

The report sees GSOC provide enhanced detail and information about its work, with the inclusion of 21 case studies providing a snapshot of the range of ways in which complaints and referrals are received, progressed, investigated and resolved. The Report also provides an overview of the outcomes of the public interest investigations closed by GSOC in 2023, as well as a summary of the systemic recommendations on policy and practice issued to An Garda Síochána in that year.

The report also details many of the activities GSOC has undertaken in 2023 to prepare for transition to is successor agency Fiosrú the Office of the Police Ombudsman later this year.

About GSOC

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is an independent statutory agency set up in 2007 under the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

Its function is to deal with complaints of misconduct by members of An Garda Síochána in an efficient, effective and fair manner.

The Ombudsman Commission currently consists of two members:

• Justice Rory MacCabe, Chairperson, appointed January 2022.
• Emily Logan, appointed February 2021

Under Section 80 of the Act, GSOC is required to furnish an annual report to the Minister for Justice. The 2023 Annual Report was approved by the Minister on 16 July 2024 2024 and has been published.

The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 (PSCS Act) was signed into law by the President on February 7 2024. On commencement it will see the reconstitution of GSOC with a new name: Fiosrú Office of the Police Ombudsman. Fiosrú will have a new leadership structure with a Police Ombudsman, a Deputy Ombudsman and a Chief Executive Officer replacing the current three Commissioner model. Following an open recruitment competition, Government have nominated Emily Logan for appointment as the first Police Ombudsman on commencement of the PSCS Act. The commencement of the PSCS Act will also see a significant expansion in the organisation’s remit. Preparations are at an advanced stage for the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 later this year.

Key facts and figures from the 2023 GSOC Annual Report

2023 in numbers

• 1,577 complaints received, containing 3,358 allegations.
• 61% of complaints ruled admissible.
• 1,755 complaints closed.
• At year end, the GSOC Investigations Unit had a total of GSOC-led 446 investigations ongoing. This compares to 621 cases on-hand on 1 January 2023.
• 35 referrals from the Garda Síochána of matters where it appeared ‘the conduct of a member of the Garda Síochána may have resulted in the death of or serious harm to a person’. 18 of these related to fatalities.
• 25 public interest investigations opened (these are investigations undertaken in the absence of a complaint or referral from the Garda Commissioner).
• 81 sanctions imposed by the Garda Commissioner following complaints.
• 40 files referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
• 28 protected disclosures received.

Case studies and Systemic Recommendations in the 2023 Annual Report

The 2023 Annual Report includes a range of case studies arising from its investigative work in 2023, as well as itemising the various recommendations made to An Garda Síochána where issues of a systemic nature were uncovered in the course of GSOC’s investigations. Case studies from GSOC’s Local Intervention initiative are also provided.

Case studies include examples of:

• Disciplinary breaches including failure to investigate allegations of abuse; discreditable conduct; failures in securing evidence; abuse of authority;
• Criminal charges including for sexual assault, domestic abuse, assault and theft;
• The satisfactory resolution of service-level complaints via GSOC’s local intervention initiative, in cooperation with designated Garda inspectors.

Systemic recommendations to the Garda Commissioner on Garda policy and practice included recommendations relating to:

• the preservation of investigative files;
• safeguards around vehicle pursuit;
• safeguarding and risk assessment in custody settings; and
• training of personnel regarding the application of extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Notable Events

• In February 2023, GSOC published its submission to the Oireachtas outlining its observations on the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
• In November 2023, GSOC, together with colleagues in the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate, organised and hosted the 22^nd Annual Conference of European Partners Against Corruption (EPAC), Europe’s multi-national anti-corruption network. The event, held in Croke Park, was attended by over 100 representatives of anti-corruption agencies from across Europe.

GSOC’s Statement of Strategy 2021-2023 articulates the Commission’s strategic vision, mission and its envisaged high level outcomes for the period 2021- 2023. It also sets out the key actions that GSOC will take to achieve and account for its performance against these objectives over that period.

While based on GSOC’s current statutory underpinnings, the Statement of Strategy is also oriented towards implementing the necessary arrangements for a smooth transition to Fiosrú, the new Office of the Police Ombudsman, the provisions for which have been outlined in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. This new legislation was enacted in February 2024 and is expected to come into effect in the summer of 2024.  The text of the Act can be found on www.irishstatutebook.ie.

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