AN INTRODUCTION TO EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE CROWN OFFICE AND PROCURATOR FISCAL SERVICE (COPFS) - BY THE LORD ADVOCATE, ELISH ANGIOLINI, QC
Welcometo the Equality and Diversity section of the COPFS Website. This section is here to provide you with information about our approach to Equality and Diversity.
We want to provide an independent, modern prosecution service that pursues cases fairly and consistently in the public interest. To do this we require to maintain the security and confidence of all of Scotland's diverse communities. In order to earn that confidence we have to ensure that we treat people fairly and in accordance with their needs.
Scottish society, including the COPFS workforce, is diverse - made up of different people from different backgrounds who all have their own lifestyles, beliefs and experiences.
We are working hard to have greater awareness of this diversity so that we can ensure that our policies and practices treat all of Scotland's communities with fairness. The COPFS Website is a wonderful opportunity for us to show what we are doing to achieve this. The Website is a window through which you can look to find evidence of our efforts.
Please take the time to have a browse through this and other sections of the Website and if there is anything else you would like to know about our approach to Equality and Diversity, please contact our dedicated
Diversity Team.
Diversity, COPFS - our Structure
COPFS has a well-established structure for appreciating equality and diversity. This encourages open communication between all sections of the organisation and shared responsibility from "top down" and "bottom up". Leadership from senior management is demonstrated through the
Equality and Diversity Strategy Group - chaired by the Solicitor General . The Group meets on a 6 monthly basis and sets the direction for COPFS Strategy to lead on our commitment to promoting equality and diversity in the provision of service and the employment of staff .
This demonstrates strong leadership and commitment from the top of the organisation.
We have set up Area Diversity Teams within each of the 11 Procurator Fiscal Areas in Scotland. These teams include staff with an interest/expertise in each of the diversity strands. They have a particular role in promoting the effective engagement and involvement of local community groups. Several of the Area Diversity Teams have members drawn from local minority ethnic communities and other minority communities. Each Area Diversity Team submits quarterly reports to the Crown Office, which is responsible for collating these reports and for safeguarding equality and diversity interests.
Diversity, COPFS - our Strategy and Equality Action Plans
The COPFS approach to appreciating diversity is set out in our
Equality and Diversity Strategy and our
Equality Action Plans. These action plans are developed around our 5 strategic equality objectives to help us deliver the progress expected from us across all our offices and divisions. These equality objectives are at the heart of our strategy and are relevant across all of our functions. They cover community engagement, prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths, communication with victims, witnesses and accused, our staff skills, and our aim to have a truly representative and supported workforce.
Our Race, Disability and Gender Action Plans meet the legal requirements of the
Race Relations Amendment Act, the
Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the
Equality Act 2006 . We will approach all new equality duties brought in by the Single Equality Bill going through Parliament. You can find out more about our statutory duties in the
Statutory Codes of Practice . See also the
Equality and Human Rights Commission website.
Diversity, COPFS - our Staff
COPFS wants to attract the best people from Scotland's diverse communities and to create a working environment that is welcoming and supportive. We also publish
equal opportunities information about the diversity of our staff.
COPFS has designed and been rolling out its own Diversity Awareness Programme for all members of staff since 2003. Every member of staff is required to attend this 2-day course. Each course is presented by a combination of COPFS, specially trained, presenters and also external specialist presenters. The
course contents were designed specifically for the COPFS and were intended to be of as much practical use as possible for staff. A refresher course for all staff will run alongside new training for all line managers and a new 'leadership' course for our senior staff.
We published our 2005
evaluations of our staff's views on the course and an
assessment of the impact of the course. Courses continue to be evaluated.
Diversity, COPFS - our Awareness
We have developed our own
Equality Impact Assessment Tool and publish our
Equality Impact Assessment Chart to show that our policies and practice have been or are in the process of being assessed and what impact this had had. This helps us to identify, in advance, problems and areas of concern that may cause unfairness or discriminate against certain groups, and address them before plans are put into operation.
COPFS also has an independent
Equality Advisory Group (EAG) which gives advice on COPFS policy and practice. This group meets quarterly (but also discusses things "electronically") and consists of external members who have a special interest in all areas of diversity. The publication of the
minutes of EAG meetings demonstrates the independence of the EAG and the transparency of its deliberations.
Our Area Diversity Team
reports will also give you an indication of the sort of work being done by them and also the amount of time spent on diversity issues. The existence and work of these Area Diversity Teams means that there is an established system for turning the COPFS equality and diversity strategy and policy into practice.
We provide guidance to our staff on a number of equality and diversity issues. We have published our
Cultural Awareness Guide, our
Guide on Disability, our
COPFS Guide on Asylum Seekers and our
COPFS Guidance on the Niqab (Face Veil).
Diversity, COPFS - our Laws
COPFS is in a unique position in Scotland to promote equality through our approach to the prosecution of all hate crime. We recognise that hate crime is one of the most distressing crimes. It can cause serious psychological damage to the victim and their community, as it represents a personal attack on a person's identity. We are committed to dealing with such cases with the utmost sensitivity and take full account of any cultural or other diversity factors where they are relevant to the circumstances of any case and to our service delivery.
Scots criminal law has many ways of protecting the people of Scotland. There are many common law offences that can be made worse and punished more strongly, depending on who the victim is and the circumstances of the offence. In recent years new statutory laws on racist crime and religiously aggravated crime have reinforced these common law offences. We await new legislation to bring in more aggravations in relation to disability, sexual orientation and transgender.
On the
Hate Crime page on this website, you can find the Lord Advocate's Guidelines to Police for the investigation and reporting of racist crimes and offences aggravated by religious prejudice. We have also included on this page, the
results of an analysis of surveys that have been carried out on reports submitted to us by the police to assess how well these guidelines have been followed. We will develop guidance for police and prosecutors to ensure effective implementation of any new hate crime laws.
Interpreting and Translation and Transcription
COPFS recognises that communication is not a luxury - it is an essential element of fairness and therefore is an important aspect of our equality and diversity work. It is important to us that everybody who becomes involved in the criminal justice process has a full understanding of that process.
COPFS has access to the Language Line telephone interpreting service and RNID Typetalk service. There is information available here about
COPFS translation and interpreting work. Interpreting relates not only to providing services for those whose first language is not English but also to the work done by sign language interpreters. Transcription refers to making documents available in other formats for people with sensory impairments or other communication needs.
COPFS chairs The Working Group on Interpreting and Translation, whose members come from some of the main criminal justice organisations - the Scottish Police Service, the Scottish Courts Service, the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Aid Board. This Group aims to establish common standards for interpreting and translation in the Scottish criminal justice system and has produced the
Code of Practice for Working with Interpreters in the Scottish Criminal Justice System. The Code sets out the responsibilities for those providing interpreting services and those working with interpreters at a police station, at precognition and in court.
The Inspectorate of Prosecutions for Scotland Report
The Independent Inspectorate of Prosecutions for Scotland has published a number of reports since 2005. The
Report on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Response on Race Issues and the
COPFS response can be viewed here. The thematic report on
Liaison in Death Cases with Particular Reference to Organ Retention and the
COPFS response can also be viewed.
Use this link to see all
Inspectorate Reports.
Diversity Team
Telephone: 0131 226 2626
E-mail:
diversityteam@copfs.gsi.gov.uk