Member

As I have stated throughout this speech, in routine cases commanding officers authorising pre-charge custody remains appropriate. However, for investigations of more serious offences, a focused power for provost marshals, confined to offences outside the commanding officer’s summary jurisdiction, is created. Therefore, the amendments seeking to expand the provost marshal’s custody authorisation powers to the investigation of all offences, not just serious offences, undermine, in the Government’s view, the preservation of the commanding officer’s centrality to custody decisions in appropriate non-serious contexts.