If you are not satisfied with the service provided to you by the police or a police officer, you can lodge:

• a claim, if your claim against the police is not in relation with a criminal offence;
• a complaint, if your claim against the police is of a criminal nature.

Claims and complaints are regulated by different procedural frameworks.

The first are governed by article 5 of the law of 18 July 2018 regarding the General Police Inspectorate while the second are regulated by the "Code de Procédure pénale".

By informing the General Police Inspectorate (Inspection générale de la Police - IGP) of your grievances or concerns, you can contribute to the continuous improvement of the services offered by the police.

Who is concerned

Each natural or legal person who deems to be in the presence of a misconduct or inappropriate behaviour by a member of the police force or a functional issue in a police department can lodge a claim or complaint with the IGP.

And if such events are noted by police officers, they have the right to do the same.

How to proceed

Lodging a claim or complaint

You can communicate your grievances or concerns to the IGP by:

• completing a form and submitting your claim or complaint online (see 'Forms / Online services');
  
• going in person to the premises of the IGP:

• sending a letter stating your name, address, telephone number and date of birth, together with a copy of your ID, to the following postal address:

Claims and complaints can be submitted either directly or through the intermediary of a lawyer.

In principle, complaints filed anonymously will not be taken into account. The Police is required to submit any claims or complaints addressed to them directly to the General Police Inspectorate.

Processing the claim or the complaint

The processing of the claim gives rise to an administrative investigation.

Each administrative investigation launched by the IGP will be communicated to the General Directorate of Police. The General Directorate of Police will indeed provide the information the police officer or department concerned as well their hierarchical superiors.

Upon receipt of the claim, and provided the claim triggers an administrative investigation, the claimant is informed in writing of the name of the investigator(s) tasked by the IGP. The claimant is also informed that he or she will be contacted.

Result of the claim or the complaint

At the end of the administrative investigation, the General Police Inspectorate communicates its conclusions and possible recommendations in writing to the General Directorate of Police, which will take a position and inform on the follow-up which it intends to give.

The Directorate General of Police informs the department or officer in question of the outcome of the investigations and the recommendations made by the IGP. Where applicable, the General Directorate of Police, for their part, undertakes the necessary internal measures (warnings, awareness training, adaptation of procedures and prescribed measures, etc.), following the conclusions of the IGP.

As regards the claimant, the IGP's conclusions will be communicated to him or her in broad terms only. The IGP then transmits the result of the administrative investigation in the form of a report to the responsible minister.

In the case of a formal complaint (for presumably criminal acts), the IGP will send their records and reports to the competent judicial authorities. The criminal procedure code will be applied in this case. As a result, the conclusions of an investigation can only be communicated by the competent territorial public prosecutor's office.

Withdrawal of a claim or complaint

The claimant may withdraw their claim or complaint in writing at any time.

However, the General Police Inspectorate may continue its investigations if it believes that the facts referred to need to be further investigated.

Restrictions

The IGP is not competent for complaints in order to challenge the validity of penalty notices, in particular fines arising from violations of the highway code. These complaints should be addressed directly to the officer who issued the fine, the police or the appropriate judicial authorities, before the penalty notice is paid.

The IGP is also not competent in matters of complaints which concern legal cases already in progress.

Each complaint which is obviously without foundation, not sufficiently detailed or not related to misconduct or a functional issue will not be investigated.

The decision not to further investigate a complaint will be explained and communicated in writing to the claimant. A copy of the letter will be sent to the minister and the Director General of Police.

Sanctions

Each claim/complaint lodged against a member of the police force or a police department which is clearly based on false or fictitious allegations and whose only purpose is to harm the members of the police force shall be deemed to be made in bad faith and shall therefore be likely to constitute a false accusation under article 445 of the Criminal Code.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact