Key principles: The Complaints System 1. Complainants should be given a clear explanation of the criteria for accepting complaints and a step-by-step guide detailing how they will be addressed, and the standard of service and outcomes they might receive; 2. the complainant should be informed of the resolution of his or her complaint; and, 3. a complainant should have the right to challenge the way in which his or her complaint was handled or resolved through a right of appeal to the police oversight body; Key principles: Effective Investigation 1. For the investigation into death or possible ill-treatment to be effective, it is considered important that the persons responsible for carrying it out would be independent from those implicated in the events. It is important to ensure that the officials concerned are not from the same service as those who are the subject of the investigation. Ideally, those entrusted with the operational conduct of the investigation should be completely independent from the agency implicated; 2. the police oversight body must ensure that a complainant, member of the public adversely affected or the relative of someone who has died following contact with police officers or law enforcement officials is involved in the process to the extent necessary to safeguard his or her legitimate interests18; 3. where appropriate the police oversight body should have the power to refer or to recommend referral of allegations of misconduct by police officers or law enforcement officials to the body or bodies with the competence to take disciplinary action or to take those steps itself; 4. the police oversight body should have the power to submit to the government, parliament and/or other competent body, opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports on matters within its competence and to make recommendations designed to improve policing or other law enforcement activities and to try to ensure that any wider lessons are learnt from investigations of alleged misconduct by police officers and law enforcement officials; 18 Paragraph 36 of Chapter IX, Combating Impunity, of “The CPT Standards” CPT/Inf/E (2002) Rev. 2006. See also the ECHR case of Jordon v UK, paragraph 109 and Edwards v UK (2002) 35 EHRR 487 at paragraph 84. 11