# The Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025, Regulation 12: Criminal and other proceedings

Extent: E+W

(1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation, a withdrawal assessment must proceed without delay.
(2) Before a matter may be subject to a withdrawal assessment, the vetting authority must decide whether paragraph (4) applies.
(3) For any period during which the vetting authority considers paragraph (4) applies, no such withdrawal assessment may take place.
(4) This paragraph applies if a withdrawal assessment would—
(a) prejudice any criminal proceedings, or
(b) relate to a matter which is to be or may be dealt with under—
(i) the Conduct Regulations,
(ii) the Performance Regulations, or
(iii) Part 2 of the 2002 Act.
(5) Before making a decision under paragraph (2), the vetting authority must consult—
(a) where the vetting authority is a chief officer of police—
(i) any person to whom functions under regulation 14 (severity assessment) of the Conduct Regulations have been delegated, and
(ii) the line manager of the officer concerned,
(b) where a person who is or may be a witness in any criminal proceedings is to be or may be asked to attend an interview under regulation 17(2) or an appeal meeting under regulation 29(10), the relevant prosecutor (and when doing so must inform the prosecutor of the names and addresses of all such witnesses).
(6) Where the vetting authority is considering more than one matter in relation to the same police officer, paragraph (3) does not prevent a withdrawal assessment from taking place to the extent that the vetting authority considers paragraph (4) does not apply.
(7) For the purposes of this regulation, “relevant prosecutor” means the Director of Public Prosecutions or any other person who has or is likely to have responsibility for the criminal proceedings.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/502/regulation/12 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/police-vetting-regulations-2025/regulation-12
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.