MoD Police conduct and appeals rules corrected 28 Dec

Today, 28 December 2025, the Ministry of Defence Police discipline rulebook gets a clean‑up. A new Statutory Instrument-the Ministry of Defence Police (Conduct, Performance and Appeals Tribunals) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1360)-corrects a defect in an earlier set of amendments and largely rolls them back. If you’re learning how secondary legislation works, this is a helpful case study.

According to legislation.gov.uk, the Regulations were made on 18 December, laid before Parliament on 23 December, and come into force today. Because they fix a defect in S.I. 2025/1263, copies are issued free of charge to everyone who received the earlier instrument. That’s standard practice when government acknowledges an error.

What is actually changing? The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) follow rules on conduct, performance and appeals in the 2020 Regulations (S.I. 2020/1087). Earlier this month, S.I. 2025/1263 tried to update those rules. The No. 2 Regulations now revoke most of that update, so the baseline remains the 2020 framework you may already know from class or training.

Here is the plain‑English summary of the legal detail. Parts 2, 3 and 4 of S.I. 2025/1263 are revoked. Regulations 72 and 73 are also revoked. Regulation 75 is revoked except for the definition of “Head of HR”. Regulations 76 and 77(1) and (2) are revoked as well. In short, most of the attempted changes are switched off.

One element stays in place. Regulation 74-kept because of the revocation of older Scottish legislation on Police Appeals Tribunals-continues to operate. This matters for devolution: the rules need to reflect Scotland’s appeals set‑up even while other parts of the 2025 amendments are undone.

Geography check for your notes: the instrument extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. That tells you the legal reach across the UK, while the Scotland‑specific point above reminds us that devolved structures can still require targeted adjustments.

What does this mean day to day for serving and former MDP officers? The Conduct Regulations in Schedule 1 of the 2020 rules, the modified rules for former officers in Schedule 2, the Performance Regulations in Schedule 4 and the linked Appeals Tribunals provisions in Schedule 5 carry on as before. The transitional and interpretative provisions tied to the now‑revoked changes are removed to avoid version confusion.

For students, the power source is worth clocking. The Secretary of State acts under sections 3A, 4 and 4A of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987. Tracing those sections shows how Parliament has updated the MDP discipline framework over time through later Acts and orders.

Here’s a mini‑timeline you can copy into your revision notes: made on 18 December 2025; laid on 23 December 2025; in force on 28 December 2025. Made means signed, laid means formally presented to Parliament, and in force is the date the law starts to apply.

Why no impact assessment? The Explanatory Note says a full one is not prepared because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is expected. That fits a corrective instrument whose main job is to tidy up rather than introduce new burdens.

Reading tip for class: start with the Explanatory Note on legislation.gov.uk to get the story. Then read Regulation 2 to see each revocation in black and white. Finally, check the retained Scottish‑related amendment and ask why devolution makes that retention necessary. That three‑step method turns a dense SI into a clear, teachable summary.