My Lords, clearly I am not my noble friend Lady Williams, in whose name the Motion stands on our Order Paper. I will be taking forward this SI today.
This order will bring into effect four revised codes of practice issued under Sections 60, 60A and 66 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which I shall call PACE from now on. These are: Code C, which concerns the detention, treatment and questioning of persons detained under PACE; Code E, which concerns the audio recording of interviews with individuals suspected of committing offences; Code F, which concerns the visual recording with sound of interviews with individuals suspected of committing offences; and Code H, which concerns the detention, treatment and questioning of persons detained under terrorism provisions. I shall now briefly describe what the PACE codes are, how the revised codes came before us today and the changes they introduce.
For England and Wales, PACE sets out the core powers of the police to prevent, detect and investigate crime. The exercise of these powers is, however, subject to codes of practice, or PACE codes, which the Secretary of State is required to issue under Sections 60, 60A and 66 of PACE. The PACE codes do not create powers but put in place, among other things, important procedural safeguards for the public when the police exercise their powers. Together, PACE and the codes are designed to strike a balance between the need for police to have powers to tackle crime and the need for safeguards for suspects and members of the public.
Periodically, as a result of policy development, new legislation, case law or operational developments, and subject to parliamentary approval, revised PACE codes are issued. A statutory consultation on the draft codes took place last year. In addition to the bodies that the Secretary of State is required to consult, bodies such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Liberty, Justice, and the Youth Justice Board were invited to comment. The draft codes were also published on GOV.UK to enable the public at large to respond. This order was approved last week in the other place. Subject to it being approved by this House today, the four revised codes will come into force 21 days after the order is signed.
The main revisions to code C concern safeguards for vulnerable suspects, voluntary interviews—which are interviews with suspects who are not under arrest—and the use of live link technology introduced by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 to interview detained suspects and authorise extended detention before charge. There are revised safeguards for vulnerable suspects which introduce a new definition of “vulnerable”. It replaces references to persons being “mentally vulnerable” or having a “mental disorder”. Instead, the revisions
describe a range of functional factors for assessing an individual’s ability to understand their position and exercise their rights and entitlements. If there is any reason to suspect that any may apply, the police must secure an appropriate adult for that person. The appropriate adult’s role is to help ensure that the suspect understands what is happening and why, and that they are able to exercise their rights and entitlements under PACE. There is a new requirement for the police to take proactive steps to identify and record any functional factors which indicate that an individual of any age may require help and support from an appropriate adult and to make that record available for police officers and others to take into account when they need to communicate with that individual. The requirement extends to juveniles to ensure that specific relevant factors are not overlooked simply by virtue of their age alone. An appropriate adult must always be called.
Other changes update the role description of the appropriate adult and who may or may not act in this capacity. These changes reflect established good practice and take into account the work of the Home Office-chaired working group on vulnerable people and the responses to the statutory consultation on the codes. These changes are mirrored in code H.
For voluntary suspect interviews, the rights, entitlements and safeguards that apply and the procedure to be followed when arranging for a voluntary interview to take place are strengthened and extended. These changes take account of concerns that a suspect might not realise that a voluntary interview is just as serious and important as being interviewed after arrest. For example, this may be particularly applicable when the interview takes place in a person’s home rather than at a police station. The approach mirrors that which applies to detained suspects on arrival at a police station, with the interviewer standing in for the custody officer.
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The new code provisions also reflect the amendments to PACE made by the Policing and Crime Act 2017. These allow a live link to be used when detention without charge is extended by a superintendent for up to 36 hours and by a magistrates’ court for up to 96 hours. The live link provisions also allow a detained suspect to be interviewed by an officer who is not present at the police station where the suspect is detained. These provisions will enable the police to take advantage of technological developments in cases where the live link does not adversely affect a suspect’s ability to communicate effectively and exercise their rights. Other amendments reflect changes introduced by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and ensure that 17 year-olds are treated as juveniles for all purposes under PACE.
Revisions to Code E, which are mirrored as appropriate in Code F, introduce substantial changes to the audio and visual recording of suspect interviews. The new and revised provisions cover all interviews for all types of offence and for all suspects, whether or not arrested and irrespective of the outcome. They specify the types of devices which, if authorised by the chief officer, are to be used to audio record suspect interviews and mean that, whenever an authorised recording device is available and can be used, it must be used. A written interview record may be made only if such a
device is not available or cannot be used and the interview cannot be delayed until an authorised device can be used. Again, these provisions will enable the police to take advantage of technological developments.
Code F mirrors the revisions in Code E by setting out the requirements and modifications that apply exclusively for the purposes of making a visual recording with sound if the police wish to, although visual recording is not mandatory. This avoids replication of the full Code E provisions that govern audio recorded interviews and makes it clear that a visual recording with sound comprises an audio recording made in accordance with Code E together with a simultaneous visual recording. The changes clarify and extend the circumstances under which police may make a visual recording. The device specification also extends the range of devices that may be used for recording suspect interviews to include body-worn video devices, as long as they comply with the revised operating specifications and manufacturers’ instructions and the interview is conducted in accordance with the code. Body-worn video is increasingly being deployed across forces and I know that this change will be particularly welcomed by the police.
Finally, minor typographical and grammatical corrections have also been made and out-of-date references updated.
The revisions strike the right balance between the need to safeguard the rights of suspects and supporting the operational flexibility of the police to investigate crime. They are being introduced to bring Codes C, H, E and F in line with current legislation and to support operational policing practice. The revised codes provide invaluable guidance to both the police and the public on how the police should use their powers fairly, efficiently and effectively. I therefore encourage all noble Lords to support the revised codes and commend the order to the House. I beg to move.