Serious Organised Crime Agency

Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 August 2006 to question 88351, whether those Serious Organised Crime Agency staff deployed to Colombia who enjoy diplomatic immunity are subject to UK law.

Mr. Coaker
By virtue of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, all staff with diplomatic accreditation are under a duty to respect local law. SOCA officers stationed overseas are liable, as persons in public employment, to be prosecuted in England for offences committed in the course of their employment overseas.