The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (Code of Practice) (Armed Forces) Order 2008

General responsibilities

3.—(1) The functions of the investigator, the officer in charge of a service investigation and the disclosure officer are separate. Whether they are undertaken by one, two or more persons will depend on the complexity of the case and the administrative arrangements within each service police force. Where they are undertaken by more than one person, close consultation between them is essential to the effective performance of the duties imposed by the Code.

(2) In any service investigation, one or more deputy disclosure officers may be appointed to assist the disclosure officer, and a deputy disclosure officer may perform any function of a disclosure officer.

(3) The Provost Marshal of each of the service police forces is responsible for putting in place arrangements to ensure that in every service investigation the identity of the officer in charge of the investigation and the disclosure officer is recorded. The Provost Marshals shall ensure that disclosure officers and deputy disclosure officers have sufficient skills and authority, commensurate with the complexity of the investigation, to discharge their functions effectively. An individual must not be appointed as disclosure officer, or continue in that role, if that is likely to result in a conflict of interest, for instance, if the disclosure officer is the victim of the alleged offence which is the subject of the service investigation. The advice of a more senior officer must always be sought if there is doubt as to whether a conflict of interest precludes an individual acting as disclosure officer. If thereafter the doubt remains, the advice of a prosecutor should be sought.

(4) The officer in charge of a service investigation may delegate tasks to another investigator, to other persons employed in support of the service police or to other persons participating in the investigation under arrangements for joint investigations, but he remains responsible for ensuring that these have been carried out and for accounting for any general policies followed in the investigation. In particular, it is an essential part of his duties to ensure that all material which may be relevant to a service investigation is retained, and either made available to the disclosure officer or (in exceptional circumstances) revealed directly to the prosecutor.

(5) In conducting an investigation, the investigator should pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry, whether these point towards or away from the suspect. What is reasonable in each case will depend on the particular circumstances. For example, where material is held on computer, it is a matter for the investigator to decide how many of the files on the computer it is reasonable to inquire into, and in what manner.

(6) If the officer in charge of a service investigation believes that other persons may be in possession of material that may be relevant to the investigation, and if this has not been obtained, he should ask the disclosure officer to inform them of the existence of the investigation and to invite them to retain the material in case they receive a request for its disclosure. The disclosure officer should inform the prosecutor that they may have such material. However, the officer in charge of a service investigation is not required to make speculative enquiries of other persons; there must be some reason to believe that they may have relevant material. That reason may come from information provided to the police by the accused or from other inquiries made or from some other source.

(7) If, during a service investigation, the officer in charge of the investigation or disclosure officer for any reason no longer has responsibility for the functions falling to him, either his officer commanding or the officer in charge of service investigations for the service police force concerned must assign someone else to assume that responsibility. That person’s identity must be recorded, as with those initially responsible for these functions in each investigation.