MoD Police tribunal rules corrected; SI 2025/1360

If you work with, study, or simply follow police discipline procedures, here’s a useful live example of how UK rules get corrected. Ministers have made a short Statutory Instrument to fix defects in an earlier one affecting the Ministry of Defence Police. The new measure is the Ministry of Defence Police (Conduct, Performance and Appeals Tribunals) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2025, numbered S.I. 2025/1360. It was listed by legislation.gov.uk on publication alongside other December instruments and notes that it amends the 2025 regulations.

First, a quick explainer. A Statutory Instrument (SI) is a form of secondary legislation. It allows a minister to update detailed rules made under an Act without passing a new Act each time. When an SI contains an error, departments issue a correction SI and, as you’ll often see printed at the top, it’s sent free of charge to everyone who got the defective one. The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments regularly highlights drafting issues across government, which is why these corrections appear from time to time.

What does SI 2025/1360 actually do? It largely undoes changes made earlier this month by SI 2025/1263. The correction revokes Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the 2025 Regulations, revokes regulations 72 and 73, revokes regulation 75 except for the definition of “Head of HR”, and revokes regulations 76 and 77(1) and (2). In plain English, most of the December tweaks to the Ministry of Defence Police conduct, performance and appeals frameworks are pulled back. You can see the structure of SI 2025/1263-including Parts 2–5 and regulations 72–77-on legislation.gov.uk.

One important piece remains. The No. 2 Regulations keep a Scotland-related change that updates references to Police Appeals Tribunals. That’s because Scotland is transferring the Police Appeals Tribunal into the Scottish Tribunals structure at the end of December. The Scottish Government’s regulations bring that transfer into force on 29 December 2025 and repeal or replace the old tribunal rules, so the UK instrument needs to point to the right Scottish forum.

So what should you do if you’re handling an MoD Police case this winter? Treat the 2020 Regulations as your base text, as they stand today, and be aware that most of the extra amendments made by SI 2025/1263 are no longer proceeding. The retained Scotland change is there to keep cross-references accurate once Scottish appeals move into the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. For the underlying code, the Ministry of Defence Police (Conduct, Performance and Appeals Tribunals) Regulations 2020 remain the anchor, with earlier 2024 updates already applied.

Here’s a worked example. An MDP officer facing a performance meeting in January 2026 should be managed under the 2020 Performance Regulations (as amended in 2024). If that officer’s appeal route touches Scotland, references will align with the Scottish Tribunals system rather than the old Police Appeals Tribunal. For appeals elsewhere in the UK, the MoD Police appeals framework continues as set out in the 2020 package. Check your notices and letters to ensure terminology is up to date with the Scottish change.

Reading SIs confidently helps. Start with the front page for three dates: “made” (when the minister signs), “laid” (when it goes to Parliament), and “coming into force” (when it applies). For this correction, the instrument was laid just before Christmas and takes effect immediately after, which is common for tidying measures. Legislation.gov.uk’s “New Legislation” listing confirms the instrument and its relationship to the earlier December SI.

Why did a correction happen at all? The Explanatory Notes on many SIs state when something is being issued “in consequence of a defect”, and departments routinely issue these fixes without cost to recipients. That keeps the rulebook accurate for officers, managers and representatives. If you’re teaching or learning about legislative scrutiny, this is a good case study of how quality control works after an SI is made.

A final practical note on accountability. The instrument is made under powers in the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987 and is signed by a Defence minister. The Minister of State at the MoD currently responsible for MoD Police within his brief is Lord Vernon Coaker, whose ministerial portfolio explicitly names the Ministry of Defence Police. That tells you which office answers for these regulations in Parliament.