# The Authorised Investigators (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2026, Regulation 42: Investigations by the Director General


(1) This regulation applies where the Director General has determined under regulation 37 that the Director General should carry out the investigation of a complaint, recordable conduct matter or DSI matter.
(2) The Director General must designate both—
(a) a person to take charge of the investigation; and
(b) such members of the Office’s staff as are required by the Director General to assist the person designated to take charge of the investigation.
(3) The person designated under paragraph (2) to take charge of an investigation must be—
(a) the Director General acting personally; or
(b) a person who is authorised to exercise the function of taking charge of the investigation on behalf of the Director General by virtue of paragraph 6A of Schedule 2 to the 2002 Act (delegation of Director General’s functions).
(4) A person who—
(a) is designated under paragraph (2) in relation to any investigation; but
(b) does not already, by virtue of section 97(8) of the 1996 Act, have all the powers and privileges of a constable throughout England and Wales and the adjacent waters,
has, for the purposes of the carrying out of the investigation and all purposes connected with it, all those powers and privileges throughout England and Wales and those waters.
(5) A person designated under paragraph (2) who is not a constable is not, as a result of paragraph (4), to be treated as being in police service for the purposes of—
(a) section 280 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (person in police service excluded from definitions of “worker” and “employee”); or
(b) section 200 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (certain provisions of that Act not to apply to persons in police service).
(6) References in this regulation to the powers and privileges of a constable—
(a) are references to any power or privilege conferred by or under any enactment (including one passed after the making of these Regulations) on a constable; and
(b) have effect as if every such power were exercisable, and every such privilege existed, throughout England and Wales and the adjacent waters (whether or not that is the case apart from this paragraph).
(7) In this regulation “adjacent waters” means the sea and other waters within the seaward limits of the territorial sea of England and Wales.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/1098/regulation/42 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/authorised-investigators-complaints-and-misconduct-regulations-2026/regulation-42
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.