1. Worboys (Supreme Court Judgement Implications)
This case concerned the question of whether Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights imposes a duty on the police to investigate offences of rape and sexual assault, with a consequential right to compensation where the duty is breached. It arose in the context of the offences committed by the serial sex offender John Worboys (“the black taxi rapist”).

2. The nature of the duty, systemic failures or operational failures
Key Issues & Findings
The nature of the duty, systemic failures or operational failures
“Errors in investigation had to be egregious and significant.”
Resources. More effective investigation and enhancement of standards
The Human Rights Act 1998 imposes an operational duty to investigate ill-treatment that amounts to a violation of Art. 3.
II. It is not required that there be state involvement in the acts alleged to amount to a breach of Art. 3.
III. Operational failures do not need to flow from or be connected with systemic or structural flaws (such as training, inadequate policy, etc). The requirement is that the police will take all reasonable steps to secure evidence and act promptly and expeditiously. Examples in this case that gave rise to liability included failure to promptly interview a witness, failure to collect CCTV evidence, failure to conduct
National Police Chiefs’ Council
searches, and failure of reception staff to record relevant names, addresses and vehicle registration details.
IV. The bar is set quite high: The principle applies to really serious operational failures - “Only conspicuous or substantial errors in investigation would qualify. To give rise to a breach of Art. 3, errors in investigation had to be egregious and significant.” This does not therefore encompass every complaint of burglary, car theft or fraud for example becoming the subject of an action under the Human Rights Act 1998.
V. Carrying out police investigations efficiently should not give rise to a diversion of resources. On the contrary, it should lead to more effective investigation of crime, the enhancement of standards and the saving of resources.
VI. Compensation from the State in cases of breach of the duty to investigate or prosecute was not automatic but the award of compensation was geared principally to the upholding of standards concerning the discharge of the State's duty to conduct proper investigations into criminal conduct which fell foul of Art. 3.

3. Home Office Agreement
NPCC monitoring arrangements to understand:
Number of new cases
The nature of new cases
Distribution & costs
Resourcing implications
Forces to collate data in order that periodic reviews can be undertaken and reported through the NPCC.

4. Organisational Risks
Potential increase in Litigation that meet the seriousness criteria set out in the case law
Financial implications
Impact on resources - Shortage of Detectives and Investigators identified within PEEL Police effectiveness 2017 (Recommendation 2)
Whether forces intend to review their approach to the investigation of serious crime - Effectiveness at identifying vulnerable victims & hidden harm (Recommendation 3)
1. + Litigation against forces that looks to test the water for failure to investigate less serious crimes
2. Impact – Litigation and additional staffing/resource costs.
3. PEEL recommendation 2 – By sept 2018, all forces with a shortage in qualified detectives and/or other investigators should develop an action plan. The plan should set out in detail what the force will do to address the shortage in the short, medium and long term.
It should be in line with the national plan to develop investigative capacity and capability that all CC’s in England have agreed.
The plan should draw on the information in the force management statement about:
The investigative demand the force expects to face in the next four years; &
How the force will change and improve the condition, capacity and capability, serviceability, performance and security of supply of its workforce and other assets to cope with that demand.
4. PEEL recommendation 3 - The College of Policing, working with the NPCC leads, should develop an approach to peer review. This approach should support forces to work with each other to improve how they identify, respond to and keep safe vulnerable victims.