Commentary on Clauses Section 34: The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office
214.This section and Schedule 3 establish the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) as a separate department, independent of HMRC and the two predecessor departments. Together they set out the structure of the Office by creating the office of the Director of Revenue and Customs Prosecutions, who will have responsibility for employing RCPO staff. The Director’s jurisdiction to conduct Revenue and Customs prosecutions extends to England and Wales only. The present arrangements will continue in respect of prosecutions, following investigations by officers of Revenue and Customs, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.
215.Subsection (1) provides for the appointment by the Attorney General of a Director of Revenue and Customs Prosecutions.
216.Subsection (2) gives the Director power to appoint staff subject to the approval of the Minister of the Civil Service as to their terms and conditions.
217.Subsection (3) provides for the Director and his staff to be known as the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.
218.Subsection (4) introduces Schedule 3, which makes further provision relating to the Office.