58. Police officers routinely address grievances during their encounters with the public without the need for a complaint to be made. This may be by way of an explanation, acknowledgement of a different point of view or an apology. Where a relatively uncomplicated misunderstanding or breakdown in communication between a police officer and member of the public gives rise to a complaint it may not be necessary for the police or IPCB to undertake a lengthy and expensive investigation. Moreover, investigation is unlikely to meet the complainant’s expectation that their uncomplicated complaint will be quickly resolved in a simple and straightforward manner. Provision should be made for such complaints to be resolved through mediation or a less formal mechanism. 59. The police officer with responsibility for handling a complaint determined appropriate for mediation will need to make arrangements to gather information about the complaint and how the complainant and officer complained against wish to proceed, and, if required, appoint a mediator. 60. Examples of how a mediated complaint may be satisfactorily resolved in a timely fashion with the agreement of the complainant and the officer complained against include: ff by letter to the complainant by a senior police officer providing an account for the action complained of and, if appropriate, an apology; ff by meeting between the complainant, with nominated representative present, and a senior police officer; ff by offer of an ex gratia payment; or ff by arrangement of a meeting between the complainant and the officer complained against, with representatives present if requested, convened by a senior police officer or an independent mediator. 61. A complainant should have the right to challenge the way in which his or her mediated complaint was handled or resolved by the police by way of appeal to the IPCB. 6.4 Investigation process 62. In addition to the requirement that Article 2 and 3 complaints must be investigated in accordance with the five ECHR effective police complaints investigation principles, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights also provides useful guidelines for all of the stages of the police complaints process. Appendices ► Page 95