Lodging claims or complaints against the police

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:

11, rue Robert Stumper
L-2557 Luxembourg
Tel.: (+352) 26 48 53-1
(preferably by appointment only)

  • 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:

Inspection générale de la Police
B.P. 1202
L-1012 Luxembourg

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

Form for appeals or complaints against the police

To complete your application, the information about you collected from this form needs to be processed by the public administration concerned.

That information is kept by the administration in question for as long as it is required to achieve the purpose of the processing operation(s).

Your data will be shared with other public administrations that are necessary for the processing of your application. For details on which departments will have access to the data on this form, please contact the public administration you are filing your application with.

Under the terms of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, you have the right to access, rectify or, where applicable, remove any information relating to you. You are also entitled to withdraw your consent at any time.

Additionally, unless the processing of your personal data is compulsory, you may, with legitimate reasons, oppose the processing of such data.

If you wish to exercise these rights and/or obtain a record of the information held about you, please contact the administration in question using the contact details provided on the form. You are also entitled to file a claim with the National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale pour la protection des données), headquartered at 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

By submitting your application, you agree that your personal data may be processed as part of the application process.

Online procedure

Go to the procedure

Formulaire de réclamation ou de plainte contre la police

Les informations qui vous concernent recueillies sur ce formulaire font l’objet d’un traitement par l’administration concernée afin de mener à bien votre demande.

Ces informations sont conservées pour la durée nécessaire par l’administration à la réalisation de la finalité du traitement

Les destinataires de vos données sont les administrations compétentes dans le cadre du traitement de votre demande. Veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée par votre demande pour connaître les destinataires des données figurant sur ce formulaire. Conformément au règlement (UE) 2016/679 relatif à la protection des personnes physiques à l'égard du traitement des données à caractère personnel et à la libre circulation de ces données, vous bénéficiez d’un droit d’accès, de rectification et le cas échéant d’effacement des informations vous concernant. Vous disposez également du droit de retirer votre consentement à tout moment.

En outre et excepté le cas où le traitement de vos données présente un caractère obligatoire, vous pouvez, pour des motifs légitimes, vous y opposer.

Si vous souhaitez exercer ces droits et/ou obtenir communication de vos informations, veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée suivant les coordonnées indiquées dans le formulaire. Vous avez également la possibilité d’introduire une réclamation auprès de la Commission nationale pour la protection des données ayant son siège à 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

En poursuivant votre démarche, vous acceptez que vos données personnelles soient traitées dans le cadre de votre demande.

Démarche en ligne

Accéder à la démarche

Formular zur Einreichung einer Beschwerde gegen die Polizei

Ihre in diesem Formular erfassten personenbezogenen Informationen werden von der zuständigen Verwaltungsbehörde verarbeitet, um Ihren Antrag erfolgreich abzuschließen.

Diese Informationen werden von der Behörde für den zur Verarbeitung erforderlichen Zeitraum gespeichert.

Die Empfänger Ihrer Daten sind die im Rahmen Ihres Antrags zuständigen Verwaltungsbehörden. Um die Empfänger der in diesem Formular erfassten Daten zu erfahren, wenden Sie sich bitte an die für Ihren Antrag zuständige Behörde.

Gemäß der Verordnung (EU) 2016/679 zum Schutz natürlicher Personen bei der Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten und zum freien Datenverkehr haben Sie das Recht auf Zugang, Berichtigung und gegebenenfalls Löschung Ihrer personenbezogenen Informationen. Sie haben zudem das Recht, Ihre erteilte Einwilligung jederzeit zu widerrufen.

Weiterhin können Sie, außer in Fällen, in denen die Verarbeitung Ihrer Daten verpflichtend ist, Widerspruch einlegen, wenn dieser rechtmäßig begründet ist.

Wenn Sie diese Rechte ausüben und/oder Einsicht in Ihre Informationen nehmen möchten, können Sie sich unter den im Formular angegebenen Kontaktdaten an die zuständige Verwaltungsbehörde wenden. Sie haben außerdem die Möglichkeit, bei der Nationalen Kommission für den Datenschutz Beschwerde einzulegen (Commission nationale pour la protection des données, 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux).

Wenn Sie Ihren Vorgang fortsetzen, akzeptieren Sie damit, dass Ihre personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen Ihres Antrags verarbeitet werden.

Online-Vorgang

Den Vorgang öffnen

Who to contact

Double click to activate the map

We are interested in your opinion

How would you rate the content of this page?

Last update