Key legal personnel & their roles
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is a part of the
Scottish Government. To see where we fit into the Structure of the Scottish Government, please refer to the
organisation chart on their website
The Lord Advocate
The Lord Advocate is the Ministerial Head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and the head of the systems of criminal prosecution and the investigation of deaths. Elish Angiolini QC was sworn in as Lord Advocate on 12 October 2006.
Elish Angiolini was born in Glasgow in 1960. When she was appointed in November 2001, she became the first woman and the first non-Advocate to hold the post of Solicitor General.
She served as a prosecutor in Airdrie and Glasgow before becoming Regional Procurator Fiscal for Grampian, Highlands and Islands in 2000
She is married with two children.
Detailed information about the role and functions of the Lord Advocate.
Solicitor General
The Solicitor General is the Lord Advocate's Deputy. Frank Mulholland QC was sworn in as Solicitor General on 30 May 2007.
Frank was born in Coatbridge in 1959. He joined the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as a depute in Greenock in 1984. He went on to work as a depute in Glasgow and Edinburgh, before taking up posts in the Crown Office, first in the High Court unit and then in Appeals.
In 1997 he became the first Advocate Depute to be appointed from within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. He was appointed Queens Counsel in 2005. He also holds a diploma in trial advocacy skills from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, which was awarded in 2006 following a course held at Harvard University.
Crown Agent
Catherine Dyer
The Crown Agent's principal role is as the civil service head of the legal staff in the COPFS and legal advisor to the Lord Advocate on prosecution matters. The Crown Agent also holds the post of Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer (QLTR).
Catherine Dyer is a highly experienced, well respected prosecutor and was joint author of the Pryce-Dyer report which marked the beginning of a major modernisation programme for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 2002.
She has experience both in the Crown Office, and in leading Glasgow, our largest Area.
Advocate Deputes
Advocate Deputes prosecute cases in the High Court. The Advocate Deputes, together with the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, comprise Crown Counsel.
Area and District Procurators Fiscal prosecute crimes locally throughout Scotland on behalf of the Lord Advocate.