Part 3: Investigations, legal proceedings etc. and release of prisoners Civil proceedings, inquests and police complaints Section 45: Police complaints
Subsection (1) inserts a new section 50A into Part 8 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 ("the 1998 Act") (police complaints and disciplinary proceedings).
New section 50A applies to police complaints relating to conduct forming part of the Troubles, and provides that, on and after 1 May 2024 (the day the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 comes into force), Part 8 no longer apply to such complaints, whether made before, after, or on that date. "Conduct forming part of the Troubles" has the meaning given in section 1 (see subsection (3) of that section).
Subsection (2) provides that on and after 1 May 2024, the Chief Constable, the Board, the Director or the Department of Justice is to cease to deal with any complaint referred before that day under section 52(7) of the 1998 Act insofar as the complaint relates to conduct forming part of the Troubles.
Subsection (3) provides that the Police Ombudsman is not to begin any formal investigation and must cease any existing investigations that relate to conduct forming part of the Troubles.
Subsection (4) clarifies that the section does not prevent the Ombudsman from carrying out a criminal investigation of a Troubles-related offence after 1 May 2024, if it is for the purposes of a public prosecution begun before that date.
	Subsections (2) and (3) make equivalent provision in respect of police misconduct regimes in England & Wales and in Scotland, by, respectively, amending section 28 of the Police Reform Act 2002 (application of complaints and misconduct provisions to matters occurring before 1 April 2004) and inserting a new section 47A (complaint or investigation relating to Northern Ireland Troubles) into the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006.