Consultation outcome

Consultation on amendments to the Attorney General’s Code of Practice issued under Section 377A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

From:: Attorney General's Office
Published: 29 June 2022
Last updated: 23 January 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Detail of outcome

A response to the consultation can be found in the draft Explanatory Memorandum that accompanies the draft Statutory Instrument that will bring the revised Code of Practice into effect.

The draft Statutory Instrument and draft Explanatory Memorandum are available here. The draft Code of Practice is available here.

The documents were laid in Parliament on 22 January 2024 and will be debated as part of Parliamentary procedure.

Original consultation

Consultation description

This consultation seeks views on amendments to the Code of Practice issued by the Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland under section 377A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). The Code provides guidance for prosecutors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on the exercise of the investigation powers in Chapter 2 Part 8 of POCA. The Code will replace earlier codes issued under section 377A of POCA.

The Home Secretary has published a consultation in tandem with this one, which provides guidance to investigators in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

POCA contains a comprehensive legal framework for investigating, and the recovery of, the proceeds of crime. The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (EC(TE) Act) added to the asset recovery and investigation powers in POCA and was commenced in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in May 2022. The operation of certain powers within POCA, including those inserted by the EC(TE) Act, are subject to Codes of Practice issued by the Home Secretary, the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland, the Department of Justice and Scottish Ministers.

The existing guidance needs to be updated to reflect changes made to the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) regime following the commencement of Part 2 of the EC(TE) Act.

POCA provides that when a Code of Practice is revised, the relevant authorities must prepare and publish a draft, they must consider any representations made and modify the Codes as appropriate, and they must lay the Codes before Parliament for approval.

Documents

Draft Code of Practice issued under section 377A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

PDF, 617 KB, 61 pages

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