- 22 26. In those rare cases where a complaint was made or information otherwise emerged to suggest that police officers had resorted to ill-treatment, the CPT’s findings indicate that both the administrative and judicial routes to investigate allegations of police ill-treatment are fundamentally flawed. More specifically, the investigations are characterised by a number of serious shortcomings and often do not satisfy basic requirements of effectiveness as reflected in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights16 and laid down in the 14th General Report on the CPT’s activities.17 27. The administrative procedure to investigate allegations of ill-treatment is normally initiated ex officio and carried out by the local police service to which the suspected police officer belongs, according to the applicable law and notably the 2008 Disciplinary Code.18 Most investigations routinely take place in the first instance as Preliminary Inquiries, following a written complaint and upon the decision of a superior officer of the law enforcement official in question. They are usually carried out either by the superior officer in person or by another senior officer appointed by him. In those few cases in which a more formalised Sworn Administrative Inquiry (EDE) is conducted, because of clear indications that a serious disciplinary offence may have been committed, the CPT has learned that, in practice, these investigations may still be allocated to a police officer from the same service as the officer suspected of ill-treatment. The current legal provisions limit the mandatory assignment of such an inquiry to police officers belonging to a different service to cases of allegations of “torture and other offences against human dignity” as provided for in Article 137 A of the Criminal Code.19 Indeed, such an assignment is discretionary for all other disciplinary offences that do not reach this high threshold, including “violent treatment against citizens”.20 28. Moreover, the provisions of the Disciplinary Code do not require the mandatory suspension from service of police officers who have allegedly resorted to ill-treatment, pending the outcome of administrative or criminal proceedings against them.21 This should be particularly the case if there is a risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act or to obstruct the investigation. 16 17 18 19 20 21 European Court of Human Rights, judgments in the cases of Bekos-Koutropoulos v. Greece (13 December 2005), Petropoulou-Tsakiris v. Greece (6 December 2007), Zelilof v. Greece (24 May 2007), Galotskin v. Greece (14 January 2010) and Zontul v. Greece (17 January 2012). See the section on combating impunity in CPT/Inf (2004) 28, paragraphs 31-36. Reference should also be made to Articles 12 and 13 of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – which refers to the need to carry out a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed. Further, the 1999 United Nations Manual on Effective Investigations and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘Istanbul Protocol’) inter alia states that such type of investigation should be carried out by investigators who shall be independent of the suspected perpetrators and the agency they serve, in addition to being conducted promptly and effectively. Adopted by Presidential Decree 120/2008 on “Disciplinary law for police staff”. See Articles 10 (1) (c) and 26 and (4) of the Disciplinary Code. The most serious cases with clear signs of evidence of a disciplinary offence are generally assigned to the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Hellenic Police. In the Attica and Thessaloniki regions, such investigations into allegations of police ill-treatment are being carried out by the Sub-Directorates of Administrative Investigations, i.e. special units which are administratively independent from the departments to which the police officer in question belongs. For the other regions, the administrative investigation is assigned to police officers serving for a police directorate of a different region. See Articles 11 (1) (k) and 26 (2) and (3) of the Disciplinary Code. See Article 5 (3) of the Disciplinary Code.