The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Victim Information Requests: Code of Practice) Regulations 2025

Made: 2nd December 2025

Laid before Parliament: 3rd December 2025

Coming into force: 12th January 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 44D(7) (including as applied by section 44F(1)) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (“the Act”)[^f00001].

In accordance with section 44D(5) (including as applied by section 44F(1)) of the Act, the Secretary of State in preparing the code of practice has consulted with the persons specified in that section.

In accordance with section 44D(6) (including as applied by section 44F(1)) of the Act, after preparing the code of practice, the Secretary of State laid it before Parliament and published it.

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Victim Information Requests: Code of Practice) Regulations 2025.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 12th January 2026.

• (3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, subject as follows.

• (4) Insofar as these Regulations relate to the persons specified in section 44F(2) (application of Chapter 3A to service police etc) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, these Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Code of Practice

2

The code of practice entitled “Victim Information Requests: Code of Practice”[^f00002] laid before Parliament and published on 1st December 2025 comes into force on 12th January 2026.

Signed

Jess Phillips — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Home Office — 2nd December 2025

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Explanatory Note

These Regulations bring into force on 12th January 2026 a code of practice containing guidance on the statutory duties set out in sections 44A to 44C and 44F of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32) (“the 2022 Act”) as inserted by sections 28 and 29 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (c. 21).

Section 44A provides that an authorised person may request information relating to a victim where an authorised person has reason to believe that (i) the third party holds the information sought, (ii) the information sought is relevant to a line of enquiry being or to be pursued and (iii) the authorised person is satisfied that the request is necessary and proportionate for the purpose of prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of a crime. In addition, where the request relates to counselling information, the authorised person must have reason to believe that the information sought is likely to have substantial probative value to a reasonable line of enquiry being or to be pursued. In making a victim information request or deciding whether to make such a request, an authorised person must have regard to the code of practice for the time being in force under section 44D. The statutory framework applies to authorised persons (see section 44E of the 2022 Act) and their equivalents in the service police (see section 44F of the 2022 Act).

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

A copy of the code of practice referred to in this instrument can be found online at www.gov.uk and hard copies can be obtained by writing to the Home Office, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. An Explanatory Memorandum has been published alongside these Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk. Copies may be obtained from the Data and Identity Directorate at the Home Office at 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2022 c. 32. Sections 44D and 44F of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 were inserted respectively by sections 28 and 29 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (c. 21).

[^f00002]: The code of practice is available online at www.gov.uk. A copy may also be obtained by writing to the Home Office, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.