The Associations of Chief Police Officers and HM Customs and Excise Public Statement on Standards in Covert Law Enforcement Techniques

Declaration on ethical standards and covert investigative techniques

The principal United Kingdom law enforcement agencies* are committed to the maintenance of working practices which observe their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

* This declaration is jointly issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association qf Chief Police Officers in Scotland, Her Majesty's Chstoms and Excise and the Directors General of the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Those working practices seek to achieve a balance between the requirement to work within a defined framework for the safeguarding of civil liberties and the maintenance of a robust approach to the tackling of crime and criminality. This document sets out in general terms:

Part 1 the case for covert law enforcement techniques in the light of the threat from serious crime and criminality;

Part 2 the ethical precepts to which the law enforcement agencies subscribe in the conduct of covert operations;

Part 3 the commitment of the law enforcement agencies to common standards of integrity in the collection, storage and use of intelligence and sensitive investigative material;

Part 4 the commitment of the law enforcement agencies to the auditing of standards and the provision of effective complaints and redress procedures for infringements of rights conferred by the Convention.

The case for covert law enforcement techniques The threat from crime

Serious crime and organised criminality are corrosive of civilised society. The growth in the threat from crime has been acknowledged both by Parliament and the courts in the provision of increased powers for law enforcement and in support for the principle of public interest immunity in the defence of both intelligence sources and those sensitive investigative techniques, the revelation of …

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Publication information: Article title: The Associations of Chief Police Officers and HM Customs and Excise Public Statement on Standards in Covert Law Enforcement Techniques. Contributors: Not available. Journal title: Journal of Power and Ethics. Volume: 2. Issue: 2 Publication date: April 2001. Page number: 196. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group.

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