Section 57(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2016 requires that the Lord Advocate issue two Codes of Practice - one on the questioning, and recording of questioning, of persons suspected of committing offences (the Interview Code) and the other on the conduct of identification procedures involving persons suspected of committing offences (the Identification Code).
This followed recommendations made by the Post-corroboration Safeguards Review, chaired by Lord Bonomy.
Section 57(4) of the Criminal Justice Act 2016 Act requires that a public consultation takes place, before the final versions of the Codes are issued. This public consultation commenced on 26 October 2026 and will last until 16 November 2026 at 5:00pm.
View the draft Codes of Practice
Respond to the consultation
Feedback can be sent to one of the following email addresses:
For feedback on the Draft Code of Practice for identification, email IdentificationCodeConsultation@copfs.gov.uk
For feedback on the Draft Code of Practice for interview, email InterviewCodeConsultation@copfs.gov.uk