Organised Crime

Traditionally 18 Red Lion Court has been very involved in the prosecution and defence of organised crime cases. Since 2006 the primary responsibility for the investigation of organised crime has fallen to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (‘SOCA’). This agency was created by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (the Act) and officially came into being on April 3, 2006. SOCA is “an intelligence-led agency with law enforcement powers” (SOCA Annual Plan, 2006/7) and its function is to detect, prevent, reduce and mitigate the harmful consequences of serious organised crime.

Previously, combating such activities was split between at least four agencies. These were the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad, HM Revenue and Customs (responsible for investigation and intelligence in tackling serious drug trafficking and recovering related criminal assets), and the Home Office (responsible for immigration crime). SOCA absorbed the first two of the above organisations and took over the relevant duties of HMRC and the Home Office. Its powers have grown greater still, since the Asset Recovery Agency was also absorbed in-house.

SOCA has the benefit of a dual agency prosecution model. The CPS prosecutes matters that were previously investigated by the NCS and also immigration work. The CPS' Revenue Customs Division (formally the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office) prosecutes drug trafficking and money laundering. Combating drug trafficking is a particular and consistent aim of SOCA annual plans, not least because recent Home Office figures put harm from Class A drugs as costing the UK around £13 billion a year. Chambers experience is that this dual model has many advantages and the standards of both agencies involved in the work are high.

 

SOCA is involved in the investigation of many other aspects of organised crime, in particular the following:

SOCA is also the National Central Bureau for contact with Interpol, Europol and Sirene. As may be appreciated therefore, counsel involved in prosecuting cases on their behalf rapidly gain broad and detailed experience of both advocacy and advisory work in organised crime cases. This has been and continues to be of great value to chambers.

All RCPO "SOCA" prosecutions are started by Standing Counsel. As 18 Red Lion Court has more Standing Counsel than any other chambers we have naturally been heavily involved in SOCA work from the outset. Indeed, Shane Collery and Rebecca Chalkley were regularly involved in the 12 months prior to its creation, and thereafter, in training SOCA intelligence officers in relation to their disclosure responsibilities. Standing Counsel have juniors in almost all these cases and most are from chambers. Thus the depth of experience of advocacy in organised crime cases filters through to the rest of chambers. It is invaluable experience.

 

The primary change since the creation of SOCA is that lawyers have become involved in investigations at ever earlier stages and play a greater role in the direction that those investigations take. SOCA intends to be "legally audacious" and the level of involvement by lawyers and counsel has necessarily grown. Counsel in Chambers regularly advise SOCA and the respective prosecution agencies before arrests take place. This hones the tactical and strategic decision-making skills of all counsel involved.

An example of the "legally audacious" approach is SOCA’s regular use of covert audio probes to gather evidence. Counsel in Chambers have become increasingly comfortable with this area and what needs to be in place to ensure that this potentially invasive technique is properly deployed. SOCA is also now the designated UK competent authority for the notification of suspicious activity relating to drug precursor chemicals. This activity alone gives an indication of the focus for the future.

To give but a few examples, Standing Counsel have recently been involved, with juniors from Chambers, in the following operations:

 

SOCA is also involved with the Metropolitan Police in the Middle Market Drugs Partnership. This is a joint initiative, originally between the Metropolitan Police Service and HM Revenue and Customs, to create a proactive multi-agency drugs task force for the London region aimed at the sustained disruption of middle market drug dealing. Now the HMRC role has been taken over by SOCA. Chambers has been involved both prior to the creation of SOCA and since in this area of work.