The Act – Section by Section Police conduct Section 6: Liability of the Scottish Police Authority for unlawful conduct of the chief constable
64.This provision is to address a possible gap in the legislation about the consequences of certain conduct. It provides for the SPA to have liability for any unlawful conduct on the part of the chief constable in the carrying out of the chief constable’s functions. It aligns the treatment of unlawful conduct by the chief constable with the existing treatment of unlawful conduct by other constables by section 24(1) of the 2012 Act, which provides for the chief constable to be liable for the unlawful conduct of constables.
65.Section 6 of the Act inserts in to section 24 of the 2012 Act a new subsection (3A). The provision in new subsection (3A) follows the model of section 24(1). Subsection (4) of section 24 of the 2012 Act is amended to capture new subsection (3A) such that, in the event that the office of chief constable is empty, the SPA will be liable for whoever is acting as chief constable. No provision cognate to subsection (3) is required because the SPA will have all of the usual obligations to pay that flow from being liable.