Draft Order laid before Parliament under section 459(6)(a) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c.29), for approval by resolution of each House of Parliament.

2018 No. ****

Proceeds Of Crime, England And Wales
Proceeds Of Crime, Northern Ireland

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Investigations: Code of Practice) Order 2018

Made

Coming into force

The Secretary of State makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 377(4) and (8) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 20021 (“the Act”).

The Secretary of State has—

a

under section 377(8) of the Act, revised the code of practice prepared under section 377(1) of the Act2 in connection with the exercise of functions under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the Act by—

i

the Director General of the National Crime Agency;

ii

other National Crime Agency officers;

iii

officers of Revenue and Customs;

iv

immigration officers;

v

Financial Conduct Authority officers, and

vi

in relation to England and Wales, accredited financial investigators and constables;

b

in accordance with section 377(2) of the Act, published a draft of the revised code of practice, considered any representations made about the draft and amended the draft accordingly;

c

in accordance with section 377(2A) of the Act, consulted the Treasury about the draft in its application to functions that Financial Conduct Authority officers have under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the Act, and

d

in accordance with section 377(3) of the Act, laid the revised code of practice before Parliament.

In accordance with section 459(6)(a) of the Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Citation and commencement1

This Order may be cited as the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Investigations: Code of Practice) Order 2018 and comes into force on 31st January 2018.

Revised code of practice2

The revised code of practice entitled “Code of Practice issued under section 377 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Investigations” laid in draft before Parliament on 23rd October 2017 comes into operation on 31st January 2018.

Revocation3

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Investigations: Code of Practice) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Order 20163 is revoked.

NameMinister of StateHome Office
EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings into operation on 31st January 2018 a revised code of practice prepared by the Secretary of State under section 377 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c. 29) (“the 2002 Act”) in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The revised code of practice relates to the exercise of functions under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the 2002 Act by—

a

the Director General of the National Crime Agency,

b

other National Crime Agency officers,

c

officers of Revenue and Customs,

d

immigration officers

e

Financial Conduct Authority officers, and

f

in relation to England and Wales, accredited financial investigators and constables.

The functions in Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the 2002 Act concern the conduct by appropriate officers (defined in section 378 of the 2002 Act) of certain types of investigations which are authorised by the Act, concerned with the recovery of the proceeds of criminal conduct.

This Order revokes a previous Order made under section 377 of the 2002 Act.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no direct impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies. The code of practice provides guidance on the use of powers under POCA by bodies in the public sector, and incorporates existing best practice, but does not require any greater use of those powers which could result in an additional impact.