Jonathan Fisher KC has begun work on part 2 of his Independent
Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences.
Better protections for the British public against fraud, and
tougher enforcement against the perpetrators, will be the goals
of the first independent review carried out in 40 years into the
UK's fraud laws.
Jonathan Fisher KC has begun work on part 2 of his Independent
Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences which marks the first
independent review of fraud legislation in the UK since 1986.
During this time, the nature and scale of fraud has evolved
considerably, with fraud now constituting over 40% of all
offences recorded by the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Where Lord Roskill's 1986 review focused mostly on the serious
fraud committed by corporate entities, the huge increase in fraud
offences over the last decade has come at the expense of ordinary
consumers and small businesses, targeted by highly organised
gangs, many of them based overseas.
The resulting harm to society is severe, with fraud against
individuals in England and Wales alone recently estimated to cost
more than £6.8 billion every year.
Fraud has also been transformed by the impact of modern
technology, with the increasing use of artificial intelligence to
create scambots, deepfakes, and websites impersonating
established businesses and public authorities. Fraud gangs have
the ability to target tens of thousands of Britons every hour
through social media, email and telephone, and only need to
persuade a small fraction of those individuals to fall for their
scams in order to make millions of pounds.
The Home Office will place these emerging threats at the heart of
its new, expanded fraud strategy to be published later this year,
but it will also be vital to have the independent analysis
provided by Jonathan Fisher KC to inform the response required
from government, law enforcement and industry. And with
international cooperation to disrupt threats a key national
security commitment within its Plan for Change, the government is
also building a united global response as part of its strategy to
tackle fraud.
Part 2 of the Fisher Review will therefore examine the largest
challenges faced by law enforcement in bringing criminals
committing fraud offences to justice in England and Wales.
Specifically, it will consider key issues in each following stage
of the fraud life cycle:
- detection and reporting
- disruption
- investigation
- prosecution and offences
- courts
- penalties
- rehabilitation
This follows the publication of part 1 of Jonathan Fisher KC's
review, Disclosure in the Digital
Age, which recommended a range of measures to modernise
the disclosure system and free up police time, and which is now
being taken forward by the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice
and the Attorney General's Office.
Fraud Minister said:
Fraud is a crime which can devastate lives, and I am determined
to do everything possible to bring these criminals to justice.
I welcome Jonathan Fisher KC's review which will help us expand
our knowledge base about how to better detect, disrupt and deter
fraudsters and deliver a swifter justice for the victims, as part
of our Plan for Change.
The government is determined to continue our fight against this
appalling crime, and I look forward to the outcome of this
important review.
Attorney General KC said:
Fraud is one of the most pernicious crimes. The criminals driving
these schemes are using ever more sophisticated tactics to scam
their victims. It is crucial that our criminal justice system
keeps pace.
Fraud doesn't discriminate against age, gender or sex and it
leaves victims suffering financial loss and emotional distress. I
welcome this independent review of fraud and look forward to
considering any findings as part of our Plan for Change.
Independent Review Chair, Jonathan Fisher KC said:
With the advances in digital technology, it has become much
easier for fraudsters to avoid detection, and indeed prosecution,
outright.
This review aims to scrutinise the main challenges in detecting,
investigating, and prosecuting fraud offences, and what can be
done to better equip law enforcement to deliver swifter justice
for victims.
I am greatly appreciative of the criminal justice system-wide
engagement since the launch of this independent review and for
the continued encouragement as I turn my focus to examine fraud
offences.
