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 Crown Office, Chambers Street | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Headquarters | 25Chambers Street,Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Employees | 1,650 |
| Annual budget |
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| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Scottish Government |
| Website | www |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Official name | 25 Chambers Street, Crown Office (Former Heriot Watt University)[1] |
| Designated | 29 April 1977; 47 years ago (1977-04-29)[1] |
| Reference no. | LB27981[1] |
TheCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Scottish Gaelic:Oifis a' Chrùin agus Seirbheis Neach-casaid a' Chrùin) is the independent publicprosecution service forScotland, and is a Ministerial Department of theScottish Government. The department is headed byHis Majesty'sLord Advocate, who under theScottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, along with the sheriffdomprocurators fiscal. In Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken bythe Crown. Private prosecutions are extremely rare.
The Service's jurisdiction covers all of Scotland, and includes investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, sudden or suspicious deaths, and criminal conduct by the police. It also includes assessment and possession ofbona vacantia andtreasure trove. TheLord Advocate is assisted by theSolicitor General for Scotland, both of whom areLaw Officers. The day-to-day running of the Service is carried out by theCrown Agent & Chief Executive and an executive board who are based in the service headquarters at Crown Office inChambers Street, Edinburgh. The Service employs bothcivil servants who carry out administrative and other duties andsolicitors and advocates who represent theCrown in Court.
The history of the Lord Advocate, and the resulting department of the Crown Office, is somewhat obscure. There are references on record to a king's procurator-fiscal in 1434 and 1457, and a queen's advocate in 1462. An office of king's advocate dates from 1478 but between 1478 and 1494 there are references to "advocates" (unnamed) and it is only from 1494 that one can be sure that there was a single king's advocate as the normal representative of the king in treason trials and in civil litigation. The office thus dates back tomediaeval times, with the earliestLord Advocate being John Ross of Montgrenan, whom the King appointed as his commissioner at a hearing inStirling in 1476, then as procurator for another case inEdinburgh in the following year.[2]
The history of the procurator fiscal is similarly difficult to set down with exactness, though the role has developed significantly over time. The first documentary reference appears in the Records of theParliament of Scotland for 22 August 1584, naming several procurators fiscal in Edinburgh. The fiscal was an officer appointed by, and accountable to, theSheriff, who by the 18th century was responsible for most prosecutions in local areas. By the 19th century, advocates depute were first appointed, to assist him in conducting cases in the High Court of Justiciary and the Crown Office was first established. This became the centre of the prosecution system, and it was to the Lord Advocate now to whom the procurators fiscal were responsible, evidenced by the "Book of Regulations" issued by him to procurators fiscal providing instructions about how to conduct their business.[3] The Book of Regulations is still used today in providing the framework for local prosecution in Scotland.[4]
As well as departmental management responsibility, theLord Advocate is directly responsible for prosecuting the most serious crimes, in theHigh Court of Justiciary at first instance and theCourt of Criminal Appeal. Unless the cases are of especial importance, such as theLockerbie trial held atCamp Zeist in theNetherlands, the prosecutions are normally (but not always) led by Advocates Depute who are known collectively as Crown Counsel and are experienced members of theFaculty of Advocates normally appointed for a limited period of three years. Their decision to prosecute in this way is taken in the light of the Procurator Fiscal's recommendations and a report prepared by the police, and any such reports are subject to the direction of the Lord Advocate.[5] This prosecutorial role can not be removed from her by theScottish Parliament.
The Lord Advocate is the senior of the two Scottish Law Officers, and is the chief legal adviser to theScottish Government as well as representing its ministers in civil proceedings.[6] He is also responsible under theScotland Act 1998 for ensuring that eachAct of the Scottish Parliament is within thecompetence of that Parliament. Additionally, the Lord Advocate, along with theSolicitor General for Scotland areex officio entitled to participate (but not vote) in proceedings of the Scottish Parliament to the extent permitted by standing orders.[7] The Solicitor General can act as the deputy for the Lord Advocate.
The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are one of theGreat Officers of State in Scotland, and the Lord Advocate is one of the Scottish Ministers, though since 23 May 2007 the Lord Advocate has not attended the cabinet of the Scottish Government. The position of Lord Advocate has been the subject of controversy, most notably sparked by Scottish High Court judges, wanting the ministerial and prosecutorial role to be separated.[8]
The Crown Agent is the principal legal adviser to the Lord Advocate on prosecution matters, as well as serving as Chief Executive for the department.[9] The Crown Agent acts as the principal legal adviser to the Lord Advocate in all legal proceedings in which the Lord Advocate appears as representing his or her own department, and issues general instructions from and on behalf of the Lord Advocate for the guidance of Crown counsel, procurators fiscal, sheriff clerks and other public officials.[10] The Crown Agent also transmits instructions from Crown counsel to procurators fiscal about prosecutions, and, subject to the direction of thePrincipal Clerk of Justiciary, arranges sittings of theHigh Court of Justiciary. At trials in the High Court in Edinburgh, the Crown Agent attends as instructing solicitor. The Crown Agent is ultimately responsible for serious crime committed and re–offending as well as ensuring all deaths reported to the procurator fiscal service are investigated whilst providing support services and information to victims and witnesses.[9]
The Crown Agent also holds the office ofKing's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, and all property that falls to the Crown as a result ofbona vacantia in Scotland is his responsibility, as istreasure trove. The post of KLTR was created in 1837 by the amalgamation of two existing posts created in 1707 – the King's/Queen's Remembrancer and the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, and has been held since 1981 by the holder of the office of Crown Agent.[11]
At theHigh Court of Justiciary prosecutions are brought by theLord Advocate, who is represented in Court by anAdvocate Depute. Advocate Deputes are eithersolicitor-advocates to whom rights of audience in the High Court have been given by that Court oradvocates.
For the majority of crimes in Scotland a procurator fiscal or fiscal depute presents the case for the prosecution in thesheriff court andjustice of the peace courts, and the case for the defence is presented either by the accused's own solicitor or by one from the Public Defence Solicitors' Office, a part of theScottish Legal Aid Board.
Procurators fiscal make preliminary investigations into criminal cases, take written statements from witnesses (known asprecognition) and are responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crime. This includes the power to direct the police in their investigation, but except for serious crimes such as murder the police normally complete their enquiries before involving the procurator fiscal.[12][13][14] In the most serious cases, once someone has been charged with an offence and remanded in custody,the Crown must bring the case to court within 110 days or the accused will be admitted to bail. In serious cases (known assolemn procedure with a jury as opposed tosummary procedure without) where the accused is admitted to bail, the trial must commence within 12 months of the date of first appearance in court.[15]
Procurators fiscal work in the localsheriffdom and most of the fiscal offices in Scotland are either in or near thesheriff court. The procurator fiscal is also responsible for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious and unexplained deaths in Scotland. This includes the decision to call afatal accident inquiry. The procurator fiscal is also responsible for the independent investigation of criminal police complaints made in that sherrifdom (administrative complaints are handled by thePolice Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC)).
Thelaw in Scotland does not say that a crime must be prosecuted and theprocurators fiscals have considerable discretion over what action to take. If they decide to prosecute a case, they can choose the level at which to prosecute (either throughsolemn orsummary procedure) with theaccused having no right to choose ajury trial or for a victim to decide whether or not to press charges, as the decision on whether to try and by which method belongs to the prosecutor as "Master of the Instance".[16][17][18] Until 1987, however, their discretion only extended to the degree to which they should prosecute, if at all; there were no alternatives to prosecution. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1987 gave procurators fiscal the power to offer fixed penalties instead of prosecution (afiscal fine), at the time limited to a maximum of £25 and subsequently increased to £300.[19][20][21]
Since then these options have expanded to giving a warning, fiscal fines,compensation orders,work orders, road trafficfixed penalties or diversion from prosecution intosocial work,psychological counselling orpsychiatric treatment.[22]
COPFS is organised into functions namely Local Court, High Court, Specialist Casework and Operational Support each of which is led by a Deputy Crown Agent. Within the Local Court function there are six Sheriffdom Procurators Fiscal who are responsible for the consideration and prosecution of criminal casework within the Sheriff and Justice of the Peace courts. Within Local Court there is also a National Initial Case Processing Unit which specialises in the decision making of summary level cases reported to COPFS by Police Scotland and other specialist reporting agencies. In early 2025, the COPFS took over the management ofpost-mortem examinations inAberdeen, due to staff shortages, with officials saying the development aimed to "ensure there are no gaps in the provision of these services and to minimise the distress to bereaved families."[23]
Victim Information and Advice Service (VIA) is a dedicated and specialised victim information and advice service within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. VIA was created to provide information to victims, bereaved next of kin and keeping them informed about the progress of a case. It also has a duty to advise on and facilitate referral to other agencies for specialist support andcounselling as required.[24] VIA works closely with other statutory agencies, such as thePolice and theCourts and with voluntary organisations, such as Court Witness Service,Women's Aid andVictim Support, and is a unique service in the Scottish criminal justice system.
Although Scotland did not have the principle of 'legality' as in some foreign jurisdictions where the prosecutor has no discretion...
We do not have the English system of someone deciding whether or not to press charges, nor of Magistrates [or in America, Grand Juries] deciding whether or not someone should be committed for trial, nor of the accused opting for trial by jury. In Scotland, these are decisions for the Procurator Fiscal to make.
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| Investigation | ||
| Prosecution | ||
| Criminal courts | ||
| Punishment | ||
