Organised Crime
Legal powers
Legal powers
Most organised crime falls within the normal criminal law. But the unique threat of some types of organised crime has created the need for tailored powers.
Serious Crime Act 2007
The Serious Crime Act is helping to deliver the Government's strategy to tackle serious organised crime and target the behaviour of those who profit from damage to our communities. The Serious Crime Act has:
- Introduced new civil Serious Crime Prevention Orders enabling individuals or organisations to have conditions imposed on them in order to prevent illegal activity. For example they may be prohibited from associating with known criminals;
- Provided measures to allow greater information sharing between public and private sectors for the prevention and detection of fraud (see below for code of practice);
- Introduced new offences of encouraging or assisting another person to commit an offence;
- Merged the key functions of the Assets Recovery Agency with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and improve the proceeds of crime legislation; and
- Extended HM Revenue and Customs' existing surveillance powers to a wider range of criminal activity to combat organised tax crime.
These measures were introduced by the Government to make life more difficult for serious criminals by disrupting their operations and ensuring they do not benefit from the harm they cause to the public. They will also ensure those more loosely connected with serious criminal groups cannot avoid prosecution.
Data sharing for the prevention of fraud: code of practice for public authorities disclosing information to a specified anti-fraud organisation under sections 68 to 72 of the Serious Crime Act 2007
Section 71 of the Serious Crime Act requires that the Secretary of State prepares and keeps under review a code of practice with respect to the disclosure, for the purposes of preventing fraud, of information by public authorities as members of specified anti-fraud organisations or otherwise in accordance with any arrangements made by such organisations.
Data Sharing for the Prevention of Fraud - Code of Practice. PDF
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act provided for the establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It also included:
- A power to compel co-operation with investigators, so that suspects and their associates have to surrender relevant documents to investigators when they are requested
- Licence conditions on convicted organised criminals post-release, such as tighter restrictions on where they travel and who they associate with
- Putting Queens evidence on a statutory basis
- Incentives in law such as sentence reductions to encourage criminals to inform on their associates
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
In The Proceeds of Crime Act the Government took new powers to seize the profits of criminal activities and plough a proportion of them back into law enforcement:
- Set up the Assets Recovery Agency, a national agency dedicated to investigating and recovering criminal assets.
- Introduced a civil recovery scheme, allowing for the recovery of process of unlawful conduct in cases where a criminal prosecution cannot be brought
- Took powers to tax an individual or business where income, profit or gain is suspected of being derived from crime.
- A new incentive scheme for the police which will allow the police to keep a direct share of all assets recovered.
Code of Practice: Search and Detention of Cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
Section 292 of the of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provided for the Secretary of State to make a code of practice in connection with the exercise by HM Revenue and Customs officers and constables of the powers conferred on them by virtue of Section 289 (Searches: recovery of cash in summary proceedings).
This Code of Practice has been updated. View updated Search and Detention Code of Practice.
Code of Practice: Investigation Powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Section 377 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provided for the Secretary of State to make a code of practice in connection with the exercise of the investigative powers conferred under Part 8 (Investigations) of the Act.
This Code of Practice has been updated. View updated Investigation Powers Code of Practice.
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: Report of the Appointed Person for England, Wales & Northern Ireland 2005-06
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provided powers for police and customs officers to seize and then apply for the forfeiture of cash which is or represents property obtained through unlawful conduct, or which is intended to be used in unlawful conduct. To support the power to seize cash, there is a power of search. This is a power to search private premises where a police or customs officer has lawful authority to be present, and a power to search a person. Search powers should normally only be exercised where prior judicial authority has been obtained. In all cases where judicial approval is not obtained prior to a search of either private premises or a person and cash is not seized or cash is seized but is not detained for more than 48 hours, then the police or customs officer concerned must prepare a written report and submit it to an independent person referred to in the statute as "the Appointed Person". The Appointed Person must prepare a report each year giving his opinion as to circumstances and manner in which the powers of search are being exercised in cases where he has received a report and making any recommendations he considers appropriate.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) provided for the interception of user logs and e-mails of suspected criminals by the security and intelligence services:
- Updated the law on the interception of communications to take account of technological change such as the Internet
- Put other intrusive investigative techniques on a statutory footing for the very first time
- Provided new powers to help combat the threat posed by rising criminal use of strong encryption
- Ensured that there is independent judicial oversight of the powers in the Act.
Last update: Thursday, November 13, 2008