South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995)RegulationsForensic DNA Regulations, 202018. Assessment of complaint |
| (1) | In assessing a complaint, the assessment committee may take into consideration— |
| (a) | whether the Service has conducted or is conducting an investigation of its own; |
| (b) | whether the complainant has exhausted the internal remedies available in the Service; |
| (c) | whether the complainant has exercised his or her right in a court of law or another competent tribunal; and |
| (d) | whether the complaint is of a trivial, frivolous, vexatious nature or was made in bad faith. |
| (2) | If the assessment committee is of the opinion that additional information is required to make a proper assessment, it may request such information from the complainant or the authorised officer. |
| (3) | In conducting an assessment, the assessment committee must have— |
| (a) | reasonable access to information derived from the NFDD; |
| (b) | access to systems in place to store and destroy DNA samples; |
| (c) | access to records maintained in the Division: Forensic Services relating to the transportation, storage and destruction of DNA samples; |
| (d) | policies relating to the management of DNA samples and forensic DNA profiles; |
| (e) | statistics relating to the number of DNA match findings, all DNA samples received, analysed, disposed of and forensic DNA profiles that are stored, destroyed or removed from the NFDD; |
| (f) | measures taken by the authorised officer to put in place remedial measures to reduce or address the factors that gave rise to a valid complaint; and |
| (g) | any other information that the assessment committee may reasonably require. |
| (4) | The authorised officer must provide the information referred to in sub- regulation (3) to the assessment committee within 14 days after receipt of such a request from the assessment committee. |
(5)
| (a) | The assessment committee may request written or oral submissions from any person or executive authority of the organisation or organ of state which may be necessary to properly assess the merit of the complaint. |
| (b) | A request contemplated in paragraph (a) must be in writing and delivered by registered post or delivered by hand directly to the relevant person or to the executive authority of the organisation or organ of state where the information is kept. |
| (6) | The assessment committee, after considering all the relevant factors and available information, must within seven days after making an assessment, report in writing to the Board on the outcome of such assessment and may make recommendations to the Board on the matter. |
| (7) | The chairperson must table the assessment committee's report for discussion at the next Board meeting. |
| (8) | The Board may request the assessment committee to further investigate the complaint and reconsider its assessment. |
| (9) | After considering the report and recommendations of the assessment committee as contemplated in sub-regulation (6), and provided that the complaint not relate to a criminal act or that disciplinary action is not recommended by the assessment committee, the Board may implement the recommendation of the assessment committee. |
| (10) | The Board must within ten days after its decision has been taken inform the complainant in writing accordingly and if the complaint has been referred to another authority for further action, the details thereof. |
| (11) | In the case where a criminal act is alleged to have been committed by a person subject to an assessment, the Board must within ten days after it received the report of the assessment committee comply with the provisions of section 15AA(4) of the Act. |
| (12) | If a complaint is referred to a relevant authority in terms of section 15AA(4) and (5) of the Act, the authorised officer of the NFDD must ensure that full cooperation, assistance and support is provided to the relevant authority. |
| (13) | The Board must ensure that recommendations regarding disciplinary matters are referred to the institutions referred to section 15AA(5) of the Act within 1 0 days after receiving the assessment. |