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Section 16: Police.

Race Relations Act 1976 · 1976 c. 74View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part II: Discrimination in the Employment Field

REPEALED on 2001-04-02 by 2000 c.34, s.9.

The text below is from the dated revised snapshot immediately preceding this status change. It is historical and is not current law. View the historical source.

For the purposes of this Part, the holding of the office of constable shall be treated as employment—

by the chief officer of police as respects any act done by him in relation to a constable or that office;
by the police authority as respects any act done by them in relation to a constable or that office.

There shall be paid out of the police fund—

any compensation, costs or expenses awarded against a chief officer of police in any proceedings brought against him under this Act, and any costs or expenses incurred by him in any such proceedings so far as not recovered by him in the proceedings; and
any sum required by a chief officer of police for the settlement of any claim made against him under this Act if the settlement is approved by the police authority.

Any proceedings under this Act which, by virtue of subsection (1), would lie against a chief officer of police shall be brought against the chief officer of police for the time being or, in the case of a vacancy in that office, against the person for the time being performing the functions of that office; and references in subsection (2) to the chief officer of police shall be construed accordingly.

Subsection (1) applies to a police cadet and an appointment as a police cadet as it applies to a constable and the office of constable.

In this section—

in relation to a person appointed, or an appointment falling to be made, under section 9(1)(b) or 55(1)(b) of the Police Act 1997 (police members of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the National Crime Squad) means the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service or, as the case may be, the Director General of the National Crime Squad,
in relation to any other person or appointment, means the officer who has the direction and control of the body of constables or cadets in question;

  • “chief officer of police”—

    (a)in relation to a person appointed, or an appointment falling to be made, under a specified Act, has the same meaning as in the Police Act,

  • “the Police Act” means, for England and Wales, the the Police Act 1996or, for Scotland, the Police (Scotland) Act 1967;

  • “police authority”—

    (a)in relation to a person appointed, or an appointment falling to be made, under a specified Act, has the same meaning as in the Police Act,

    (b)in relation to any other person or appointment, means the authority by whom the person in question is or on appointment would be paid;

  • “police cadet” means any person appointed to undergo training with a view to becoming a constable;

  • “police fund” in relation to a chief officer of police within paragraph (a) of the above definition of that term has the same meaning as in the Police Act , in relation to a chief officer of police within paragraph (aa) of that definition means the service fund established under section 16 or, as the case may be, 61 of the Police Act 1997, and in any other case means money provided by the police authority;

  • “specified Act” means the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, the City of London Police Act 1839 or the Police Act.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.