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Police, Crime, Sentencing And Courts Act 2022

Annex B – Pre-charge bail authorisation requirements

Months Previous pre-charge bail arrangements - standard cases 1 Current pre-charge bail arrangements – standard cases (as set out in this Act) Previous pre-charge bail arrangements - SFO cases Current pre-charge bail arrangements – non-standard cases 2 (as set out in this Act)

1

(28 days)

Initial bail period

Inspector

Initial bail period

Custody Officer

Initial bail period

Inspector – confirmed by Superintendent

Initial bail period

Custody officer – confirmed by relevant authorised agency member as indicated below

2

First extension

Superintendent

3
4

Second extension3

Magistrate

First extension

Inspector

First extension

A member of the Serious Fraud Office who is of the Senior Civil Service4

5
6
7

Third extension

Magistrate

Second extension5

Superintendent

Second extension

Magistrate

First extension

Relevant authorised agency member as indicated below

8
9
10

Fourth extension

Magistrate

Third extension

Magistrate

Third extension

Magistrate

11
12
13

Fifth extension

Magistrate

Fourth extension

Magistrate

Fourth extension

Magistrate

Second extension

Magistrate

14
15
16

Sixth extension

Magistrate

Fifth extension

Magistrate

Fifth extension

Magistrate

17
18

Authorisation levels for agency cases

  • NCA – Authorised by Custody Officer, confirmed by a National Crime Agency officer
  • FCA – Authorised by Custody Officer, confirmed by a member of staff designated for this purpose by the Chief Executive
  • SFO – Authorised by Custody Officer, confirmed by a member of the Serious Fraud Office
  • HMRC – Authorised by Custody Officer, confirmed by an officer of Revenue and Customs

First extension

  • NCA - a National Crime Agency officer who is of a grade equivalent to the rank of Superintendent or above
  • FCA - a member of staff of the Financial Conduct Authority who is of the description designated for this purpose by the Chief Executive
  • SFO - a member of the Serious Fraud Office who is of the Senior Civil Service
  • HMRC – an officer of Revenue and Customs who is of a grade equivalent to the rank of Superintendent or above

1 Under previous authorisation requirements, all cases other than Serious Fraud Office ("SFO") cases (known as "standard cases")

2 New pre-charge bail arrangements provide for a longer initial bail period to be granted to three other agencies (alongside the SFO), namely Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs ("HMRC"), the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") and National Crime Agency ("NCA"), as they tend to be complex in nature and tend to take considerably longer to investigate than more "standard cases", these cases are referred to as "non-standard" cases’.

3 Cases that meet the requirements under section 47ZE of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 can be granted a further extension of up to 6 months from the bail start date before coming before a Magistrates’ Court.

4 This is provided that the case meets the requirements under section 47ZE.

5 Cases that meet the requirements under section 47ZE of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 could be granted a further extension of up to 12 months from the bail start date before coming before a Magistrates’ Court.

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