On 24 October 2025 the Home Office confirmed it will restore the criminal law test for assessing police use of force in misconduct cases in England and Wales. Ministers describe the change as providing clearer guidance for officers making urgent decisions while maintaining disciplinary oversight.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in R (W80) v IOPC on 5 July 2023, misconduct panels have applied the civil law test, under which an officer’s honest but mistaken belief cannot be relied upon unless that mistake was reasonable. The government intends to substitute the criminal law test, which asks whether the officer honestly believed force was necessary and assesses reasonableness in the circumstances as the officer believed them to be.
The Home Office has accepted an independent rapid review recommendation to implement the change by amending the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 after consulting the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales. Draft regulations will be laid once that consultation is complete and parliamentary time allows.
According to the department, the revised approach will apply to all instances in which an officer uses force, including self‑defence and defence of others, and is not limited to firearms incidents.
The rapid review, commissioned in October 2024 and led by Sir Adrian Fulford PC and Tim Godwin OBE QPM, took evidence between November 2024 and May 2025. It concluded that recent case law had created confusion and inconsistency in misconduct decision‑making and recommended a return to the criminal test to improve clarity for officers and decision‑makers.
The same review advises a public consultation on whether inquests should revert to the criminal standard of proof for short‑form unlawful killing conclusions, following the Supreme Court’s 2020 Maughan decision that applied the civil standard. The Lord Chancellor is minded to consult, with detail to follow.
The announcement sits alongside measures in the Crime and Policing Bill. Proposals include a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers charged after a shooting until conviction, alignment of Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) referral thresholds with Crown Prosecution Service charging tests, permission for earlier CPS referrals before an IOPC final report, and placing the IOPC Victims’ Right to Review in statute.
Separately, government changes this year strengthen professional standards processes. New rules laid in May 2025 create a presumption of dismissal where gross misconduct is proven and streamline accelerated hearings; parallel vetting reforms make passing background checks a legal requirement and enable forces to remove officers who fail.
For practitioners, the key shift is the substantive test applied to the use‑of‑force Standard of Professional Behaviour within the Police (Conduct) Regulations. The standard of proof in misconduct proceedings remains the balance of probabilities unless regulations are changed. Forces should plan for revised Home Office guidance and training for professional standards teams and panel chairs once the amended regulations are laid.
Policing leaders have welcomed the review’s direction. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has argued that a single, clearly articulated test judged on what officers honestly believed at the time would provide greater consistency and reduce lengthy uncertainty for officers in the most demanding roles.