Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what his powers are in relation to the Serious Fraud Office.

The Attorney General and Solicitor General superintend the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1987 and are the ministers responsible to Parliament for the work of the SFO. The SFO was created and given its functions and powers by the Criminal Justice Act 1987; it exercises those functions on behalf of the Crown. It is a non-ministerial department headed by the Director. The SFO is therefore independent and makes its own investigative and prosecutorial decisions independently. Part of the role of the Law Officer is to protect that independence.

The SFO also forms one of the ‘Law Officers’ Departments, and as such constitutes a public arm’s length body sponsored by the Attorney General’s Office. The terms of our sponsorship arrangement are set out in the Framework Agreement between the AGO and the SFO which was published on 22 January, replacing the 2009 Protocol document. The Framework Agreement is agreed between the Director of the SFO and the Law Officers.