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The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, established as a body corporate under Section 1 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It operated within the United Kingdom and collaborated (through its network of international offices) with many foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Agency was formed following a merger of the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (elements of which were incorporated into AVCIS), the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), the investigative and intelligence sections of HM Revenue & Customs on serious drug trafficking, and the Immigration Service's responsibilities for organised immigration crime. The Assets Recovery Agency became part of SOCA in 2008, while the Serious Fraud Office remained a separate agency. SOCA Officers could be designated the powers of a constable, customs officer or immigration officer and/or any combination of these three sets of powers. The Director General of SOCA (or his designate) was responsible for determining which powers were given to members of staff which could be altered depending on the nature of the investigation.〔(Legislation.gov.uk )〕 Those police powers requiring a constable to be in uniform could not be exercised by SOCA Officers as the agency was non-uniformed. SOCA operated with greater powers in England and Wales than in Scotland and Northern Ireland and as such worked with the Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland and the Organised Crime Task Force (Northern Ireland), which shared some of its functions in their respective jurisdictions. In June 2011, the coalition government announced that SOCA's operations would be merged into a larger National Crime Agency to launch in 2013.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=SOCA Opportunities )〕 The new agency, created through the Crime and Courts Act 2013, commenced operations on 7 October 2013. ==Overview== The creation of the agency was announced on 9 February 2004 as one of the elements of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which also restricts protests and demonstrations in central London, and alters powers of arrest and the use of search warrants. According to Home Office figures organised crime costs the UK around £20 billion each year, with some estimates putting the figure as high as £40 billion.〔(Home Office figures on organised crime )〕 SOCA had a national remit and the role of the agency was to support individual Police forces in the investigation of crime and conduct independent investigations with regard to serious organised crime. SOCA was an agency which had the role of "reducing harm", not specifically the arrest and conviction of offenders. Elements of the media attempted to draw parallels between the organisation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States: indeed, parts of the press labelled SOCA the "British FBI." SOCA was subject to similar internal and external governance mechanisms as the police service. The SOCA Professional Standards Department was responsible for receiving, investigating and monitoring the progress of public complaints about the misconduct of SOCA officers. Serious complaints regarding SOCA were dealt with by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).〔(IPCC to oversee public complaints against SOCA )〕 The IPCC would decide the appropriate method of investigation. In general terms, the IPCC would handle complaints against SOCA officers in the same manner as complaints against police officers or officers of HMRC. The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI) dealt with complaints in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, this was the responsibility of the Lord Advocate. There was also a bespoke inspection regime for SOCA, provided through Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).〔(FAQ's Serious and Organised Crime Website )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Serious Organised Crime Agency」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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